
Class L74-^ 



X 



^^Ist^iSSm^^] HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES {°No"l030^ 



SAMUEL A. WITHERSPOON 

( Late a Representative from Mississippi ) O 7 ^ 

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 

DELIVERED IN THE 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND THE SENATE 

OF THE UNITED STATES 

SIXTY-FOURTH CONGRESS 
FIRST SESSION 



Proceedings in the House Proceedings in the Senate 

March 5, 1916 March 25, 1916 



PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF 
THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON PRINTING 




1^ 

WASmNGTON 

1917 







0^ of D. 
MAR 2f 1917 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



Page 

Proceedings in the House 5 

Prayer by Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D 6 

Memorial addresses by — 

Mr. William W. Venable, of Mississippi 9 

Mr. Albert Estopinal, of Louisiana 16 

Mr. Ezekiel S. Candler, jr., of Mississippi 18 

Resolutions adopted by the Lauderdale County 

(Miss.) Bar Association 18 

Address by Mr. E. H. Dial before the Lauder- 
dale County (Miss.) Bar Association, Dec. 

11, 191.5 21 

Mr. Lemuel P. Padgett, of Tennessee 31 

Mr. Benjamin G. Humphreys, of Mississippi 36 

Mr. Walter L. Hensley, of Missouri 39 

Mr. Oscar Callaway, of Texas 44 

Mr. Warren W. Bailey, of Pennsylvania 49 

Mr. John R. Farr, of Pennsylvania 51 

Mr. Clement Brumbaugh, of Ohio 53 

Mr. Charles O. Lobeck, of Nebraska 56 

Mr. Henry T. Rainey, of Illinois 58 

Mr. James W. Collier, of Mississippi 60 

Mr. Claude Kitchin, of North Carolina 65 

Mr. Hubert D. Stephens, of Mississippi 69 

Mr. Pat Harrison, of Mississippi 78 

Mr. Thomas U. Sisson, of Mississippi 82 

Mr. Percy E. Quin, of Mississippi 87 

Mr. Frank Buchanan, of Illinois 91 

Proceedings in the Senate. 93 

Memorial addresses by — 

Mr. James K. Vardaman, of Mississippi 95 

Mr. Ellison D. Smith, of South Carolinii ' 105 

Mr. Charles S. Thomas, of Colorado 108 

Mr. Robert F. Broussard, of Louisiana 111 

Mr. Miles Poindexter, of Washington 116 

Mr. Joseph T. Robinson, of Arkansas 119 

Mr. John Sharp W'illiams, of Mississippi 123 



[3] 




Hon. Sa3^ii.tel A.Witherspoon 



DEATH OF HON. SAMUEL A. WITHERSPOON 



Proceedings in the House of Representatives 

Monday, December 6, 1915. 

Mr. Candler of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, it is with sin- 
cere and genuine sadness, fully sliared in by all of the 
delegation from Mississippi, that I announce to you and 
to the House of Representatives the death of my friend 
and colleague, Hon. Samuel Andrew Witherspoon, Rep- 
resentative from the fifth district of Mississippi, which 
sad event occurred at his home in Meridian, Miss., at 
6 o'clock p. m., November 24 last. 

Mr. Witherspoon was a cultured Christian gentleman, 
a manly man, a hard student, who solved great questions, 
and with efficiency and faithfulness discharged every duty 
devolving upon him. His death is a distinct loss to his 
district, to his State, to this Nation, and to the House of 
Representatives, where he was always listened to with 
great attention when he presented any question. 

I shall not say more at the present Ume, Mr. Speaker, 
but at some future date I will ask that a day be set apart, 
that a fitting eulogy may be paid to his splendid character 
and his useful life. For the present I offer the following 
resolution. 

The Speaker. The Clerk will report the resolution. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

House resolution No. 21 

Resolved, That the House of Representatives has heard with 
profound sorrow of the death of Hon. Samuel Andrew Wither- 
spoon, late a Representative from the State of Mississippi. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the 
Senate and transmit a copy thereof to the family of the deceased. 

The resolution was agreed to. 

[5] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Witherspoon 

Wednesday, February 9, 1916. 

Mr. Venable. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent 
that Sunday, March 5, 1916, be set aside for appropriate 
memorial exercises on the life, character, and work of 
Hon. S. A. Witherspoon, late a Representative from the 
State of Mississippi. 

The Speaker. The gentleman from Mississippi asks 
unanimous consent that Sunday, March 5, 1916, be set 
aside as a day on which to memorialize his predecessor 
in Congress, Mr. Witherspoon. Is there objection? 

There was no objection, and it was so ordered. 

Friday, March 3, 1916. 
The Speaker appointed Mr. Candler of Mississippi as 
Speaker pro tempore for Sunday, March 5, 1916, at 
the memorial exercises for tlie late Representative 
Witherspoon. 

Sunday, March 5, 1916. 

The House met at 12 o'clock noon and was called to 
order by Mr. Candler of Mississippi, as Speaker pro 
tempore. 

The Chaplain, Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D., offered 
the following prayer: 

O Lord, our God and our Father, Infinite source of life 
and its far-reaching purposes, wc thank Thee that, when 
our souls are overwhelmed with grief at the passing of our 
loved ones from the now to the then, time assuages 
our sorrows, but that their memoiy still lives in our 
hearts. We are met on this holy Sabbath day in memory 
of one who finished the work Thou gavest him to do, and 
who has passed on into the realms of the great beyond. 
We thank Thee for his activities, and the deeds he 
wrought, for the confidence he inspired which gave him 
a well-earned place in the hearts of his countrj'men, for 

[6] 



Proceedings in the House 



the place he made for himself on the floor of this House; a 
wise counselor, an earnest advocate of what seemed best 
for his people, his State, and his Nation; for the affection 
he inspired in his home. May we cherish his memory 
and strive to emulate his virtues. And now, O God, our 
Father, let the peace which passeth understanding possess 
our hearts and the hearts of his many devoted friends; 
especially let that spirit abide witli the bereaved wife and 
loving children, that they may look forward with us to 
the larger life, where we shall dwell with our loved ones 
forever, and we shall praise and glorify Thy name in the 
spirit of Him who taught us the life everlasting. Amen. 

Mr. KiTCHiN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
the reading of the Journal be postponed until to-morrow. 

The Speaker pro tempore. The gentleman from North 
Carolina asks unanimous consent that the reading of the 
Journal be dispensed with. Is there objection? [After 
a pause.] The Chair hears none. 

The Clerk will report the special order for to-day. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

On motion of Mr. Venable, by unanimous consent, ordered that 
Sunday, Marcli 5, 1916, be set aside for tributes upon the life, 
character, and public services of Hon. Samuel A. Witherspoon, 
late a Representative from the State of Mississippi. 

Mr. Venable. Mr. Speaker, I offer the following resolu- 
tions, which I send to the Clerk's desk. 

The Speaker pro tempore. The Clerk will report the 
resolutions. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Resolved, Tliat the business of the House be now suspended that 
opportunity may be given for tributes to the memory of Hon. 
Samuel A. Witherspoon, late a Member of this House from the 
State of Mississippi. 

[7] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Withebspoon 

Resolved, That as a particular mark of respect to the memory 
of the deceased, and in recognition of his distinguished public 
career, the House, at the conclusion of these exercises, shall stand 
adjourned. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the 
Senate. 

Resolved, That the Clerk send a copy of these resolutions to the 
family of the deceased. 

The question was taken, and the resolutions were 
unanimously agreed to. 



[8] 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 



Address of Mr. Venable, of Mississippi 

Mr. Speaker: On Wednesday, November 24, 1915, there 
died in the city of Meridian, Miss., the Hon. Samuel 
Andrew Witherspoon, formerly a Member of this body. 

We have met to-day to bear some tribute to tlie excel- 
lencies of liis character and tlie merits of his work. 

It is a pity, doubtless, but it is nevertheless true, that 
during the life of any man the conflict of views, partisan- 
ship of opinion, and the emotionalism aroused by warring 
contentions often obscure the view and cover worthy 
qualities with a veil. But how different is death. This 
wonderful magician with the same wand that calls the 
spirit home removes the veil and we see clearly as never 
before the noble lineaments of a worthy character and 
the nobility of a great heart. In the presence of death 
differences of opinion take a minor role and we stand 
uncovered before the great truth that truly achievement 
consists in character; that truth, courage, honor and 
honesty, and kindliness are the primary things and that 
the positions that these qualities lead one to assume are 
of secondarj' importance. In view of this truth, I am sure 
that every Member of this body can and does bear sincere 
tribute to his memor\', regardless of whether his views 
upon public questions were in accord with theirs or not. 

Mr. Witherspoon was the son of Dr. Elias Bourdenot 
Witherspoon and Mrs. Elizabeth Dowd Witherspoon, and 
was born in Lowndes County, Miss., near the town of 
Columbus, on May 4, 1855. He lost his father in early 



[9] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Witherspoon 

youth, and his mother removed with the family to Oxford, 
Miss., in 1872 in order that she might place her sons in 
the State university at that place. 

He graduated in 1876 from this institution with the 
degree of bachelor of arts, also taking afterwards the 
degrees of master of arts and doctor of laws. After his 
graduation he was a member of the faculty for some time 
in the capacity of tutor of Latin, and it was during this 
time that he pursued his further literary and law courses. 
In 1879 he removed to Meridian, Miss., where he continued 
to reside until his death and where he pursued his pro- 
fession until his election to Congress, at which time he 
retired from the practice of law and devoted all of his 
time and thought to this service. 

Mr. "Witherspoon was one of the foremost lawyers of 
his State, and his learning, with his remarkable powers of 
analysis and his rare gift of clear and lucid statement, 
won him a reputation second to none in his own State and 
one which extended beyond its borders. 

For 30 years he labored in his profession and there 
manifested the qualities of mind and heart that made him 
respected by all and beloved by those who were so for- 
tunate as to be placed in a position to learn the real 
kindliness of his spirit. 

His was the philosophic mind, and he labored day and 
night with unflagging zeal to master the great principles 
upon which the law is founded. He constantly searched 
for reasons, and he did not rest until he felt that he had 
discovered one sufficient to support his conclusion or the 
conclusion of the writer of opinion or text, as the case 
might be. This course of study constantly pursued made 
him a resourceful and' powerful debater at the bar, and 
his wonderful gift of lucid and logical statement made 
him most formidable before the jury. This gift of logic 
together with liis remarkable memorj' enabled him to 



:iO] 



Address of Mr. Venable, of Mississippi 

marshal his facts in such an orderly way and with such 
natural sequence, real or apparent, depending upon the 
merits of his case, that his conclusions seemed to follow 
often as an inevitahle consequence. 

As a lawyer I can pay him no higher compliment than 
to say that when he was right his positions were impreg- 
nable and when he was on the wrong side of a question, 
as all lawyers will be at times, he could well-nigh force 
reason to adopt the wrong. If there was error in his 
position or conclusion it was rarely found in his processes 
of reasoning but was found lurking in some premise, 
which he himself believed in and which he had persuaded 
othei-s to admit by a clearness and plausibleness of state- 
ment that 1 have rarely seen equaled, and 1 believe never 
excelled. 

He was a man of strong feeling, and any cause he 
espoused became his from the standpoint of personal 
feeling as well as that of relation, with the result that his 
whole mind and heart and emotions became involved. 
He believed his causes just, and hence each contest be- 
came a contest between the right and the wrong, and the 
battle was to him a crusader's fight to snatch the Holy 
Grail of Truth from the impious hands of Error. From 
this cause and from the inherent honesty of the man, 
which would not let him be false to his best efforts, he 
spared no labor in his researches for material with which 
to barricade against the assaults of what he believed to 
be Error, and he toiled indefatigably forging the weapons 
with which to destroy it. 

He had the strong man's confidence in his own powers, 
and having once assumed a position he clung to it and 
defended it with all the gallantry and fervor of a knight 
errant, never admitting defeat until the last recourse of 
the warrior had been exhausted. 



[11] 



Memorial Addresses: FIepresentative Witherspoon 

He sprang from a distinguished American family, as 
his name indicated, but with this went no hauteur. He 
was never heard to mention anything which would indi- 
cate a false pride in anything. He was most democratic 
in spirit. Human values to him were measured in terms 
of service and character. He was most successful in his 
later professional life. He must have been conscious of 
his powers and his achievements. His practice yielded 
him handsome returns for his efforts, and honors came to 
him with the years, but his fundamental democratic 
character remained. His sympathies went out to the 
poor and the lowly. Manhood and not dollars excited 
his admiration. 

He believed in the old-time simplicity of things and 
viewed with real alarm certain modern social tendencies 
which are the outgrowth of wealth and leisure which have 
come to certain of our people. 

He believed that there was a virtue in the soil of hon- 
esty, strength, and simplicity which was infused in those 
sons of earth who relied directly upon her for support, 
and he desired to promote the interests of the farm, mak- 
ing it attractive and prosperous not only because he had 
a real sympathy and kindly feeling with and toward the 
farmers of the Nation as a class, but also because he felt 
that the farm was the great man factory of the Nation, 
the great reservoir from which the Nation must in the 
future draw its man power. As I have heard him say, 
he loved the man of the fields, who rendered an honest 
equivalent to Nature for her store ; who learned patience 
in waiting and toiling from the planting in the spring 
until the reaping in the fall ; whose wants were the simple 
ones of Nature and not the accretions of perverse habit. 

He was democratic in spirit and a lover of humankind. 
He looked upon his fellows as his brethren and felt that 
they should share with some degree of equality in a com- 

[12] 



Address of Mr. Venable, of Mississippi 

mon inheritance. He believed that the great differences 
that he perceived in the situations of men were largely 
due to dishonest practices and unjust laws, and toward 
these he manifested the greatest indignation. His nature 
was intense, and his indignation at what he thought was 
wrong or unjust found its natural expression in strong 
terms. The casual acquaintance might have drawn the 
conclusion that his nature held a degree of bitterness. 
His intimates knew that it held only sweetness and a love 
of mankind and his vehemence arose not from gall but 
from goodness, not from the littleness of spile but from 
the bigness of a great indignation toward what he believed 
to be the wrong. 

Independence of character was a predominant charac- 
teristic. Conscious of his own powers and self-reliant to 
a degree, he followed his mental conclusions with con- 
duct based thereon. There was nothing of the Hamlet 
in him. His mental processes were not for mere sub- 
jective pleasure or profit, but were designed as the predi- 
cates for action, and according to them he shaped his 
course. Having reached his conclusions, he cared but 
little who opposed and still less for the possible results 
upon his personal, professional, or political fortunes. He 
never learned " to crook the pregnant hinges of the knee 
where thrift may follow fawning." The poor and lowly 
received at his hands more earnest services in the courts, 
if such was possible, than did the powerful and influen- 
tial, and this, too, regardless of the influence of the per- 
sons who opposed. Both in his professional life and in 
politics he was independent in conduct and in character. 

The qualities that I have described are peculiarly those 
of the advocate, and in this department of work he espe- 
cially shone. With a broad knowledge of the principles 
of law, a perfectly trained mind and memory, simplicity 
of style, and a thorough knowledge of the facts of his 



[13] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative WitherspJI)n 

case, combined with ardency of feeling, he was a danger- 
ous antagonist to encounter and a pillar of strength to 
those associated with him. 

Mr. WiTHERSPOON was at heart a very affectionate man. 
No other could have won the affectionate title of " Uncle 
Sam " from his associates in this body. 

When preparing for battle, as he was most of the time, 
with his energies concentrated upon the advocacy of what 
he believed to be correct, and his mental powers concen- 
trated upon the mastery of the question in hand, he may 
have, at times, seemed impatient or harsh with those who 
invaded with outside matters the domain of his thoughts 
or retarded the movements of his reasoning with things 
he deemed immaterial, yet always at heart he was genial 
and kind, and in those moments when cares were cast 
aside he reflected both in speech and manner the real 
kindliness of his spirit. 

I can not describe this quality of the man better than 
by quoting an excerpt from the address of Hon. E. H. Dial, 
of Meridian, Miss., delivered before the Lauderdale 
Countj' Bar Association in respect and tribute to his life- 
long friend. Mr. Dial said: 

Only a very short time before he entered the sleep of death — 
his condition supposed at the time to be greatly improved— a 
cooing babe, his infant grandson, of whom he was passionately 
fond, was taken into his room and held near him that he might 
feast his soul a while in communion with this innocent loved one 
of his heart. The two there, each the idol of the other, held love's 
sweet converse in language of their own — almost the last earthly 
communion of his soul with soul; for in an incredibly short time 
tliereafter the Great Reaper came. Thus, this strong man, who 
never quailed from fronting in fierce combat giants full panoplied 
and worthy of his steel, found his last sensation of earthly joy in 
drinking love light from a baby's eyes. 



[14] 



Address of Mr. Venable, of Mississippi 

He was great in his mental strength, great in his moral 
courage, great in his honesty, and great in his services. 
He achieved much and exampled more. He received 
nothing in life as a gift of capricious fortune or fortuitous 
chance, but with courage and faith he lived in accordance 
with the laws of the cause and result of achievement and 
paid the price for what he gained to the last farthing. 
He bought mental strength and culture with labor, the 
respect of men with honesty, the admiration of men with 
a kind of desperate courage, and lastly the love of men 
with a love for them, and grief for his death with all 
of these. 



[15] 



Address of Mr. Estopinal, of Louisiana 

Mr. Speaker: It was with deep sorrow that I heard of 
the sudden death of the splendid man and useful legis- 
lator to whose virtues of life and able services in this body 
we have to-day met to pay tribute. 

Mr. WiTHERSPOON and I were fellow members of the 
Committee on Naval Affairs during his two terms of 
service in this body — the Sixty-second and Sixty-third 
Congresses; and as we were in almost continuous session 
during these two Congresses, I saw a great deal of him 
during those four years. I thus had an opportunity to 
know him well and to appreciate his many sterling 
qualities. 

A warm feeling of regard grew up between us. He was 
by instinct a gentleman, courteous to everyone, true and 
loyal, high-minded and sincere. He was one of those 
stanch, steadfast men who tread the paths of duty with 
unfaltering step. Quiet of manner, calm of speech, but 
with the spirit of the bonne camaraderie fully de- 
veloped — the very soul of kindliness and gentleness in his 
personal relations^ — there is small wonder that he made 
friends in every walk of life. 

He seemed to care nothing for that flattery which stirs 
the blood of the small and swells the pride of the little. 
He was a scholar by education and inclination, and pur- 
sued his chosen profession of the law without seemingly 
a thought of holding office until called to service in this 

body. 

He was wholly devoted to the interests of his constitu- 
ents and to his work in Congress. He had the courage of 
his convictions and the talent to stoutly defend them with 



[16] 



Address of Mr. Estopinal, of Louisiana 

force, logic, and eloquence. In debate he was terse and 
vigorous, yet fully regardful of the amenities. 

Mr. Speaker, two men may differ — very widely differ — 
even reaching to the extremes of thought and action on 
national policies, both wholly sincere, prompted by the 
purest patriotism, each eager for service in pressing his 
belief to success in legislation, yet they may entertain for 
each other the warmest personal friendship and the sin- 
cerest appreciation. This was the position in wliich Mr. 
WiTHERSPOON and I found ourselves. We differed widely 
in our views regarding the appropriations for the Navy, 
and in fact in the naval program generally. But in our 
personal relations that difference of opinion never had 
the slighest effect. 

Mr. Speaker, I believe it was Plutarch who said : 

Man is a plant, not fixed in the earth, not immovable, but 
heavenly; whose head, rising as it were from a root upward, is 
turned toward Heaven. 



37673°— 17 2 [17] 



Address of Mr. Candler, of Mississippi 

Mr. Speaker: At a special meeting of the Lauderdale 
County Bar Association, held in the city of Mei-idian, 
Miss., Friday, November 26, 1915, a committee, composed 
of E. H. Dial, W. E. Baskin, and F. V. Brahan, was ap- 
pointed to prepare and report resolutions on the life and 
character of Hon. Samuel A. Witherspoon, deceased. 
Representative in Congress at the time of his death from 
the fifth congressional district of Mississippi and a mem- 
ber of the above-named association, who died at his home 
in the city of Meridian, Wednesday, November 24, 1915. 
The resolutions prepared by the committee were sub- 
mitted to a called meeting of the bar association Saturday, 
December 11, 1915, and were unanimously adopted. 
Pending the motion to adopt, Hon. E. H. Dial, chairman 
of the committee, formerly a law partner of Mr. Wither- 
spoon, delivered an exhaustive eulogy on the life and 
character of the deceased, which, together with the reso- 
lutions, were ordered spread upon the records of the 
association. 

The following are the resolutions by the Lauderdale 
County Bar Association, adopted Saturday, December 11, 
1915: 

Whereas, on Wednesday, November 24, 1915, there died in the 
city of Meridian, Miss., a distinguished member of this asso- 
ciation, the Hon. Samuel Andrew Witherspoon, a man widely 
esteemed both as a public and private citizen; and 

Whereas we, his neighbors and personal friends, desire to place 
on record our estimate of his worth: Therefore be it 
Resolved by the Lauderdale County Bar Association, That we, 

through this means, give expression to our appreciation of his 

admirable character and to our sorrow at the loss his family, 



[18] 



Address oi Mr. Candler, of Mississippi 

his friends, and the public have sustained by reason of his 
untimely death. 

Samuel Andrew Wither.spoon, son of Dr. Elias Bourdenot 
Witherspoon and Elizabeth Dowd Witherspoon, was born in 
Lowndes County, Miss., near Columbus, May 4, 1855, and in his 
early youth attended the common schools of the country neigh- 
borhood in which he lived. His father died when he was quite 
young, after whicli his mother, with a determination to educate 
him and two other younger sons, moved to Oxford, Miss., in 1872, 
where she could secure for them the educational advantages 
afforded by the State university at that place. He entered the 
University of Mississippi as a student in the preparatory depart- 
ment in October, 1872, and was graduated with second honors 
from that institution in June, 1876, with the class at that time 
known as the Centennial Class. 

After his graduation he was for a while tutor of Latin in the 
university, during which time he pursued the study of law. He 
moved to Meridian in 1879, where he that year began the prac- 
tice of law. By close application and earnest efiort he advanced 
steadily, through a period of 36 years, to a foremost place among 
the lawyers of Mississippi, his reputation as an able lawyer hav- 
ing, some years before his death, come to be recognized in circles 
far beyond the limits of his native State. He was a bold and 
skillful advocate, honest and reliable, and throughout his whole 
career eminently successful in the conduct of his causes. 

To his preeminent ability as a lawyer was added the profound 
learning of the scholar. He adorned all things that he touched. 
All subjects that engaged his attention received new light, and 
his penetration discovered new and hidden truths. Too often the 
lawyer is learned only in his profession, but he garnered a full 
store of useful learning in the wide and varied field of intellectual 
endeavor, and brought to the dry and prosaic learning of the law 
the refreshing graces of belles-lettres. 

His eloquence was "logic on fire." He was the John C. Calhoun 
type of orator, indulging rarely in metaphor or flights of fancy; 
but the statement of a proposition clear as crystal and the in- 
exorable demonstration of its correctness was his peculiar forte. 
Concede his major proposition and the conclusion was in- 
escapable. He may have been wrong in his premises, but his 
conclusions were always logically drawn. 



[19] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Witherspoon. 

He was elected to represent the fifth congressional district of 
Mississippi in the lower branch of the Federal Congress in 1910, 
and was serving his third term at the time of his death. He 
proved himself to be in this new sphere that same indefatigable 
worker he had always been in his pursuit of the legal profession. 
He grasped readily the great and essential elements of statecraft, 
and came to be recognized as one whose thoughts and ideals were 
worthy of the traditions of his party and of the Nation. Intensely 
democratic, unquestionably loyal to his State and his constituents, 
yet his intense patriotism carried his vision to the greatness of 
the Nation as a whole. 

Champion of the ideas of State rights, he felt that the safety and 
perpetuity of the Nation were assured only through a veneration 
of and an unimpaired adherence to the Constitution. He revered 
that Constitution, and any attack upon it was an attack upon the 
very heart and vitals of our institutions. It was largely his cham- 
pionship of the principles of that great instrument that won for 
him his nation-wide reputation. His oration on the flag is a 
classic. 

He was never a timeserver. Tenaciously loyal to principle, he 
never deviated from the path which the light of his own convic- 
tions illumined. His abhorrence of every kind of graft or double- 
dealing was so pronounced that its very presence was a challenge 
to combat. He believed that men should be true to their political 
trusts, and nothing went unchallenged with him that did not carry 
the password of rectitude, truth, and sincerity. His honesty and 
integrity might well be the ideals for every public servant. These 
are his enduring monuments. 

He was emphatically at war with all measures that seemed to 
him conceived or likely to operate in the interest of the few 
against the many. His sympathies were at all times with those 
classes that fail apparently of a fair deal in the hurrying, ever- 
moving, ever-changing conditions of life, and as their champion 
he never shrank from dashing into the fiercest part of any fight 
that involved their interests and their happiness. 

The influence of his life was ever on the side of morality and 
religion. He was a sincere and practical Christian. Since his 
early manhood he had been a church officer, and gave no small 
share of his time and thought to work of the church to which 
he belonged. 



[20] 



Address of Mr. Candler, of Mississippi 



He was a good friend and neighbor, beloved by those who knew 
him well and with whom he had formed intimate relations of 
friendship, recognized by them as one whose life had been of 
value to this community, a joy to those whom it closely touched, 
a benediction to his family and friends. 

He was a faithful, gentle, and loving husband, a devoted and in- 
dulgent father. To the grief-stricken wife who had walked hand 
in hand with him since his early manhood, to his son, an honored 
member of this association, to his two daughters, and to a devoted 
brother, surviving loved ones, we beg leave to tender our sincere 
sympathies. 

Resolved further. That llie presiding ofTicer of this meeting 
appoint a committee of three to present these resolutions to the 
circuit court of this county at its next sitting, with the request 
that they be spread upon the minutes of the court, that they be 
recorded upon the record book of this association, a copy of them 
presented to the family of the deceased, and that the newspapers 
of this city be requested to publish them. 

E. H. Dial, Chairman, 
W. E. Baskin, 

F. V. Brahan, 

ComniUlee. 

In presenting the resolutions the following is the 
memorial address delivered by E. H. Dial before the 
Lauderdale County Bar Association, Saturday, December 
11, 1915: 

Mr. President and members of the bar association, in presenting 
these resolutions in behalf of the committee, I beg the privilege of 
adding a few remarks expressive of my own personal estimate 
of the man whose life and character the resolutions are to com- 
memorate. 

Samuel Andrew Witherspoon, son of Dr. Elias Bourdenot 
Witherspoon and Elizabeth Dowd Witherspoon, was born in 
Lowndes County, Miss., near Columbus, May 4, 1855, and died in 
Meridian, Miss., November 24, 1915, aged 60 years 6 months and 
20 days. 

He lived heroically the threescore years allotted him and filled 
that span of time with thoughts and acts that made for the en- 
richment of his own soul and the good of human kind. He was 



[2i: 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Witherspoon 

an extraordinary youth, an extraordinary young man, an extraor- 
dinary character in middle life, a man of marked and transcendent 
ability in his riper years. In none of the stages of his career was 
his a genius that blazed with meteoric light. What he was at 
every step along his triumphant march from the country school- 
house in the county of his birth to the National Capitol in the 
city of Washington was the product of a brave heart and of mental 
toil honestly and intelligently applied for life's noblest ends. 

At no point in his career did he enjoy advancement through 
influence derived from some other's success before him or through 
favoritism of another in whom was lodged some temporary 
power; but toward his goal, which at tlie outset lay beyond a 
wilderness of difTiculties, he, step by step, patiently and labori- 
ously hewed his own way. 

From his boyhood days he exhibited an intellect of exceptional 
strength, a mind of rare logical bent, of almost amazing analytical 
powers, a disposition and determination to master every subject 
that claimed his attention, a devotion to principle and loyalty to 
his own convictions that marked him, even in early life, as one of 
adamantine courage. These were predominant elements in his 
character from his youth up — throughout his whole life, from 
the days when he was a schoolboy to the years when he was a 
lawyer in his ofTice, in the courts, and in the councils of the 
Nation. 

I had known him longer than any member of this bar — longer 
tljan any person in Meridian, except one or two. I was intimately 
associated with him in quite a number of relations since he was 
17 years old. We were companions before either of us was 
grown. We were college mates at the State university from 1872 
to 1876, and were graduated together from that institution in the 
latter year in the class known at that time as the Centennial 
Class. It was during these four years that a mutual friendship 
was formed between us that lasted unbroken, interrupted by none 
of life's jars and conflicting interests, through a period of 44 
years. 

When I was married in another city in 1879 he, according to 
custom, accompanied me and stood with me, an interested par- 
ticipant as " best friend " during the ceremony. We were asso- 
ciated as partners in the practice of law in this city nine years, 
from 1879 to 1888. In all the political aspirations indulged by 
either of us neither ever asked the other for his support and 

[22] 



Address of Mr. Candler, of Mississippi 

influence. It was simply claimed as a matter of course without 
the asking, and neither of us ever thought of doing otherwise 
than contributing in fullest measure possible what aid he could 
to the advancement of the other's interest. We w^ere oflicers in 
the same capacity in the same church for at least 30 years and 
have worked together with others many an hour, day and night, 
in furtherance of those particular church interests that claimed 
our time and efforts. We were boys together, young men together, 
middle-aged men together, and, though of late with no business 
associations to unite us, have nevertheless remained together in 
intimate friendship since time commenced to touch our locks 
with gray, until the hour his spirit quit its earthly tenement and 
went to rest. 

Knowing him thoroughly, knowing his weaknesses and his 
strength, I testify to you that he was always all that he pretended 
to be, all that his friends and admirers thought he was — a high- 
born, honest man, strong, self-reliant, brave, reliable, learned, 
conscientious, religious, sincere, friendly, unostentatious, in sym- 
pathy always with humanity's common mass, whose knee bent to 
no being but his God. 

His was a lovable nature, marred by only one defect that glared, 
of which he seemed to be oblivious — a disposition to irritable- 
ness, an abruptness of manner, tiiat displayed itself sometimes, 
more strikingly in later years, without due cause, toward those he 
liked and even loved, as well as toward those he had no special 
interest in. Rub this out, and there was left little else than vir- 
tues on virtues piled by which to measure him. In conversation 
yesterday, a friend who had known him a long time remarked 
that his nature was so open, transparent, and sincere that it might 
be likened to clean, clear glass held up, through which the sun- 
light pouring revealed alike its perfections and its flaws. 

As a student at college he showed the same studious traits that 
characterized him in his maturer years as a lawyer and statesman 
under your own observation. He was always a hard student. He 
studied every subject thoroughly. He was thorough in his college 
textbooks just as he was thorough in his law books. He stood 
high in his class, graduating second in a class of 16, and with -a 
notable record for his full course of four years. He was anni- 
versarian in 1876 of the literary society of which he was a mem- 
ber, in that day one of the highest and most coveted of the college 
honors. The oration he delivered on that occasion bore the same 



[23] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Witherspoon 

marks that have characterized all the other addresses you have 
heard him deliver — logical in the flow of its thoughts and ex- 
tremely metaphysical. I have heard discourses often since then 
from minds much maturer than his was at that time on practically 
the same subject — The Pursuit of Happiness, the True Object of 
Life — and have as often thought that none presented with greater 
force and convincing clearness than did his the truth which his 
subject announced. In the last year of his college course, 1876, 
he was winner of the prize offered by the Shakespeare Society of 
London for excellence in examination in Shakespeare's plays. 

For two or three years after his graduation he was a member 
of the university faculty as tutor, or assistant professor of Latin. 
On completion of a post-graduate course pursued during these 
years he was awarded the degree of master of arts. Later, in 
1908, the honorary degree of LL, D. was conferred upon him by 
the university. 

In June, 1880, he was married in the city of Memphis to Miss 
Sue E. May, of Springfield, Ky., who survives him. Of the chil- 
dren born to them, three are living and grown to manhood and 
womanhood — Samuel A. Witherspoon, jr., a practicing lawyer at 
this bar, at one time his father's partner, an honored member of 
this association; and Misses Letitia and Fannie May Witherspoon, 
two of Meridian's most cultivated women. 

In pursuance of a wish indulged by both of us during our col- 
lege days, Mr. Witherspoon in 1879, prior to his marriage, came 
to Meridian to live and to join me in the practice of the law. He 
arrived here a total stranger in a town that was strange and new 
to him, but one or two persons in it whose names he knew. 
Often have I heard him describe the forlorn feeling that possessed 
him on the hour of his arrival as he looked about him at his 
unfamiliar surroundings and at the unfamiliar forms and faces 
that passed him by unnoticed, and how he wondered if it were 
possible for him ever to get a client out of that hurrying, in- 
different mass of humanity at that hour so oblivious of his 
existence. His description of that memorable hour when he was 
so painfully conscious of his obscurity, and when his life's work 
lay untouched all before him, came vividly back to my memory 
week before last, 36 years later, after that work was finished, 
when his cold, pulseless body, untenanted by the spirit that once 
had animated it, lay underneath a mound of flowers wet with the 



[24] 



Address of Mr. Candler, of Mississippi 

tears of scores of friends and admirers Nvhom lie, by liis own 
intrinsic worth, had won and made to love him. 

Well do I remember his first appearance in the circuit court. 
It was in a murder case. Almost any time lawyers already ini- 
tiated, waiting about the court room, likewise spectators, will 
listen for a while through curiosity, or through some sort of 
interest and sympathy as well, to the first efforts of a novice in 
the law. The same sort of indifferent interest gained him atten- 
tion at the outset in the trial of this case. Before it ended, 
lawyers, judge, jury, and spectators were amazed at the immacu- 
late skill with which he was handling the witnesses and listen- 
ing with wonderment at the masterful reasoning and powers of 
analysis being displayed before the jury in his disposal of the 
facts and his application of the law which the court had given in 
charge. The word went around, in effect, that a young David 
was in the Valley of Askelon, and the Goliaths of the bar, after 
that occasion, took most respectful notice always of the new 
stripling and his sling. 

He was a most laborious student during all the years of his 
practice at the bar. When his practice was small he studied 
hard all the time. He studied llie law night and day as a science. 
He toiled to master its fundamental principles. He studied, in 
season and out of season, the textbooks, the State code and legis- 
lative acts, and the decisions of the courts, especially the decisions 
of our own supreme court — not merely on the subjects applicable 
to cases immediately in hand, but he studied all these sj-stem- 
atically without reference to any immediate need he had for 
them. He was satisfied with nothing short of thoroughness. He 
did not follow the law as a trade, an occupation out of which to 
make money, but pursued it as a high and honorable profession 
calling for the noblest powers of the mind and soul. 

We all know, without rehearsing them, the results of this 
thorough, systematic, early preparation. We know he was a pro- 
found lawyer, w-hose accurate knowledge of the law had come to 
be, nearly two decades before his death, universally recognized 
and conceded by the profession, by the courts, and by the general 
public, and that he commanded a large and lucrative practice. 

A predominant quality of his mind was its analytical powers. 
He was severely analytical and logical. Everything in his way 
seemed to go down before the logical sweep of his reasoning; 
and the bulwark he could build in support of a proposition he 

[25] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Witherspoon 

was endeavoring to establish seemed impregnable, whether in the 
argument of a point of law before a court, in the assembling of 
facts and law before a jury, or in the presentation of a subject, 
political, literary, or otherwise, before a promiscuous audience. 

Another mental quality that characterized him was his sincere 
conviction of the rightfulness of the cause in which he was 
enlisted. He believed sincerely and strongly always that his side 
of a case was the right side. Thoroughly convinced as he always 
was of the righteousness of his client's claims, he would, even in 
the preparation of a case, grow impatient of a suggestion from 
any source that any flaw could possibly be found in it. He him- 
self could see so readily a way around every possible opposition 
the moment it was suggested that he sometimes could not with- 
hold a show of impatience that a mind less acute than his own 
would permit itself to be disturbed by a thing which to him 
seemed so unsubstantial. I doubt not that many who have been 
associated with him in the preparation of causes have noted this 
disposition of his mind. 

A few years ago he abandoned law for politics. At the time of 
his death he was a Member of Congress from the fifth congres- 
sional district of Mississippi, serving his third term. He went 
into politics, I think, because he had a laudable ambition to 
serve his country in a sphere the law did not afford. Besides 
being a good lawyer, he was a man of culture and general 
scholarly attainments. He had thought and studied a great deal 
on the theory and history of governments, and entertained deep- 
set convictions with respect to our national affairs. He was a 
lover of liberty, a friend of the oppressed. He despised favor- 
itism in any garb. Having himself begun his life work with no 
help but his own native resources, his sympathies were all with 
people who labor and toil, with that vast multitude of the human 
family who live and move and have their being in life's humbler 
walks; and when he died, these, all these — all who do not bask 
in the light of fair Fortune's smiles, whoever and wherever they 
may be in this broad land — these all lost an advocate and a friend 
who longed for opportunities to battle for the removal of what 
he deeply believed to be unequal burdens. If he could have lived 
10 years longer and continued his congressional career, he, by 
the expiration of that time, would have won the country's un- 
disputed recognition of himself as one of the Nation's great 
men — so his friends sincerely believe. 

[26] 



Address of Mr. Candler, of Mississippi 

Elements of the statesman were in him that bid fair of devel- 

« 

opnient to a preeminent degree. He knew but little of the arts 
of the politician. He spurned the demagogue and the low level 
on which the demagogue crawls and flounders. 

He was courageous in defense of any position he held. He 
knew not how to desert a principle that he believed in, or how- 
to run away from his own convictions to follow, because popu- 
lar, some other's lead. What was said by a distinguished Missis- 
sippian in public eulogy of Henry Clay soon after that great 
statesman's death aptly describes the courage of our own de- 
ceased friend: "He never feared to take ground upon any ques- 
tion, and in doing so he never waited and watched for some 
gleams of light to break out from the mass of the people to show 
him the probable path of political safety. Tears, misgivings, 
uncertainty as to his personal interests never kept him silent and 
still. He received his inspirations from his own clear head and 
dauntless heart, and stood by them with unquenchable courage." 

These qualities in Mr. Witherspoon were put to the test when 
the ship-purchase bill was before Congress, also on the Presi- 
dent's suggestion for greater preparedness for national defense, 
to each of which he was opposed. He had already become a 
target for criticism because of his stand on these two questions 
especially; but, had he lived, he was ready to defend his convic- 
tions with a courage that would have won at least the admiration 
of such as he might not have been able to convince. 

" Honor to him who, self-complete and brave, 
In scorn can serve his pathway to the grave, 
And, heeding naught of what men think or say. 
Make his own heart his world upon the way." 

Dominating his qualities as scholar, lawyer, and statesman were 
his high moral character, his genuinely religious faith, and his 
exalted ideals. In all my intimate associations with him I never 
detected a disposition of his mind to descend toward a low and 
groveling thought. Some of the sublimest sentiments I ever heard 
him utter were uttered in the privacy of our own friendship in 
common conversation. I know he was sincere in all the public 
utterances he has been known to make in the interest of morality 
and righteousness. 

His old-fashioned, rugged honesty is illustrated by the habit he 
had of refusing to receive pay for the days he was absent from 

[27] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Witherspoon 



his seat in Congress — a habit referred to by the Washington Star 
in its recent notice of his death, and which that newspaper says 
would never have been known had not the Underwood resoUition 
to " dock " absentees brought it out. 

The social side of his nature was highly developed, especially 
in so far as the enjoyment of the society of congenial friends 
was concerned. Whenever he was his very best self, he was 
extremely genial and companionable. He enjoyed flashes of wit 
and clean, droll humor, and nobody could laugh more heartily 
than he could. In ordinary conversation he not infrequently was 
more instructive and entertaining than in the elucidation of the 
same matter in formal discourse. His favorite diversion was 
hunting and fishing, camp life, roughing it in the open. He loved 
dog and gun and rod and line, the woods and fields and streams, 
and, with it all, the jolly, care-free companionship of congenial 
friends. 

Mr. Witherspoon never boasted of his ancestry — in fact, rarely 
referred to it, and then only when it found its way into a con- 
versation naturally. It is nevertheless a fact that fine blood was 
in his veins. His mother was of a distinguished Mississippi 
family. She was a sister of Hon. William F. Dowd, who in his 
lifetime was one of the State's greatest lawyers. He was not di- 
rectly descended from the Revolutionary patriot, John Wither- 
spoon, signer of the Declaration of Independence, but was of the 
same stock. He was, however, a descendant in direct line from 
John Knox, the great Scotch preacher and reformer of the six- 
teenth century. Although these are facts, yet he put no depend- 
ence upon them — though, quite likely, without showing it, he 
valued them. All this, however, notwithstanding his apparent 
disregard for it, may have had much to do in the molding of 
the spirit that dominated him. 

A familiar incident related of Oliver Cromwell is, that when 
about to sit for his portrait he directed the painter preparing to 
enter upon the work: "Paint me as I am; leave not out one 
wrinkle, scar, or blemish." In my efforts to portray the character 
of our lamented friend, I have tried to be sufRciently true to let 
my brush at least suggest his chiefest scar. I have preferred not 
to follow with severest strictness the great Englisliman's direc- 
tions. Blemishes that might be worked into a sketch, yet which 
do not change materially the subject to be drawn, need not 



[28] 



Address of Mr. Candler, of Mississippi 

necessarily be painted into a picture. A rule in sketching from 
tiie object is to draw nothing you do 'not see, even though you 
know that a part not seen exists. I do not wish to try to paint 
from memory motes I once thought I saw in my good friend's 
eye. I'd ratlicr " seek his merits to disclose " than " draw his 
frailties from their dread abode." He was not without some 
faults, not without defects of disposition and manner at times 
which those who esteemed him most often wished had not been 
a part of his nature, but he had qualities of mind and heart that 
towered so high into the sunlight that these blemishes, like minor 
imperfections of symmetry to be noted sometimes in the rise of 
a sky-reaching mountain, were lost to view in contemplation of 
the magnitude and loftiness of his character. 

Only a very short time before he entered upon the sleep of 
death — his condition supposed at the time to be greatly im- 
proved—a cooing babe, his infant grandson, of whom he was 
passionately fond, was taken into liis room and held near him 
that he might feast his soul a while in communion with this inno- 
cent loved one of his heart. The two there, each idol of the 
other, held love's sweet converse in language of their own — 
almost the last earthly communion of his soul with soul; for in 
an incredibly short time thereafter the Great Reaper came. Thus, 
this strong man, who never quailed from fronting in fierce com- 
bat giants full panoplied and worthy of his sleel, found his last 
sensation of earthly joy in drinking love light from a babj''s eyes. 

Our friend has passed behind the veil that shuts the Great 
Beyond from mortal view. To him the mysteries have been 
revealed. 

" Thou, friend of ours, whose spirit's gone, 
Thou, whose life on earth is done, 
Tell us, ' in what realms afar, 
In what planet, in what star, 
In what vast aerial space, 
Shines the light upon thy face? 
In what gardens of delight 
Rests thy noble soul to-night?' " 

Tell us the answer to the question which you, while here, 
pondered on and deemed the greatest to engage the thoughts of 
man. 



[29] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Witherspoon 

If from beyond the dark waters a response could come to us 
from him, it, in substance, we believe, would be: 

" 1 the upward way have trod; 

Basking in the smile of God, 

Read I on th' unfolded scroll: 
' Life immortal for the soul.' " 

Mr. Speaker, I fullj' concur in everything said by Mr. 
Dial in this beautiful and accurate address. He knew 
my good friend Sam Witherspoon as well as it was pos- 
sible for one man to know another, and hence I thought 
it fitting and proper to incorporate his address, as well 
as the resolutions adopted by the Lauderdale County Bar 
Association, in nij' remarks in full as the testimony of 
those who knew him best, and hence could bear witness 
to his noble and manly traits from actual knowledge and 
intimate personal association. I loved Sam Witherspoon, 
and in his death I have lost a sincere, generous, noble, 
and kind friend; this House a painstaking, hard-working, 
brilliant, and most useful Member, and the country a 
patriotic citizen, highly cultured scholai', and a great 
statesman. No man rose more rapidly in this House 
from the time he entered it until his departure, and in 
his death the people, this House, and the country' have 
sustained a very great loss. With tears in my eyes and 
genuine sadness in my heart I say to him good-by, but 
not forever, for bj' the grace of Him who loves us with 
an everlasting love and died that we might live, we shall 
meet again on the golden shore. 



[30] 



Address of Mr. Padgett, of Tennessee 

Mr. Speaker: I shall not attempt in detail to analyze or 
refer at length to the character of Mr. Witherspoon. 
Those who have preceded me have spoken so eloquently, 
so correctly, and so truthfully of his many attrihutes, of 
his generous and noble character, that I feel it would be 
a useless repetition for me to attempt in a less able way 
to rehearse those attributes of his character. 

When Mr. Witherspoon came to Congress he was 
assigned to service upon the Committee on Naval Affairs, 
of which I was a member. It was the good fortune of the 
committee to have Mr. Witherspoon a member of that 
committee, and as a member of the Committee on Naval 
Affairs he was i-espected, beloved, honored, and highly 
esteemed by eveiy member of that committee. It is use- 
less for me to say that in the Committee on Naval Affairs, 
as well as everj' other committee, there exist differences 
of opinion. A committee would be useless if there did 
not. It would fail to serve its rightful purpose and to 
discharge adequately and eHicienlly the duties and the 
responsibilities of a committee of this House if there 
were not men upon the committee who, in the inde- 
pendence and vigor of their own thoughts and the execu- 
tion of their purposes, did not assert their individual 
opinions and maintain their own ideas of right and of 
public policy. And Mr. Witherspoon maintained in a 
high-minded, able way his ideas of appropriate policies 
of legislation. 

I wish to say, Mr. Speaker, that there existed between 
us a very warm personal friendship and an association 
that will be to me through the remainder of life an oasis 
of memory. It shall always be to me a pleasure to bear 



[31] 



Memori.\l Addresses: REPRESENTAxnE Witherspoon 

in mind the association tliat I had with him and the 
cooperation as well as the disagreements that we had in 
our work in the committee and in this House. While 
we often disagreed it was that difference that begot re- 
spect; it was that difference which men can entertain 
and still cherish a high reverence and regard for each 
other, and I call to mind at this time that in the last 
session of Congress, after we had finished the contest 
upon the floor of the House over the naval appropriation 
bill, and when his contention had failed to receive the 
indorsement of the House, just here, at the front of the 
center aisle, we placed our arms around each other and 
walked out of the House to the cloakroom, each enter- 
taining for the other a friendly feeling. I know I enter- 
tained for him a high and generous respect for the manli- 
ness of the man, the integrity of his purpose, and the 
vigor of his character and his intellect. He was a man of 
affable manners, a man whom we could love, and I believe 
that the affability of his manners begot for him in this 
House the warm and cordial friendship of all who knew 
him. He was a man of generous disposition. In all my 
associations with him 1 was always pleased and gratified 
at the generosity that he always manifested in his dis- 
position toward everyone. 

But, Mr. Speaker, the generosity of h'is disposition did 
not detract from the positiveness of his convictions. He 
was a man of very positive convictions. He believed 
something. Conviction to him was not milk and cider. 
Conviction with him was the truth. He believed in the 
reality, in the genuineness, and in the sincerity of what 
he believed, and I always respected and adinired him for 
his positive convictions. Not only, Mr. Speaker, was he 
a man of positive convictions, but he was a man of 
courageous honesty with reference to his convictions. He 
studied questions. I do not think he jumped to his con- 

[32] 



Address of Mr. Padgett, of Tennessee 

elusions; I think he worked them out as best he could 
from the premises as they presented themselves to him 
honestly, sincerely, and courageously, and no man, 
whether he agreed with him or disagreed with him, failed 
to admire the courageous honesty of his positive con- 
victions. He was warm in his attachments. Friendship 
with him was real, was sincere, was honest, was earnest. 
Friendship was not a superficial, vaporous thing with 
him. Friendship with him was in his lieart, was in his 
affections, was resting upon and prompted bj' generous, 
high-minded love of soul. He loved his friends and he 
wanted his friends to love liim, and they did, and every- 
one who was thrown intimately with him I believe was 
impressed with the sinceritj' and genuineness of his 
friendship and the warmth and reality of his affections. 

He was a man of keen intellect. I have often thought 
of his intellect as a keen, sharp sword, and, as I stated in 
the outset, while we often differed, I always had a great 
admiration for the keenness and the perception of his 
intellect. How quickly he would catch a question and 
how narrowly he could divide one contention from the 
other. He had a cultured intellect, a logical training. 
He was a man strong and powerful in debate. 

His, Mr. Speaker, was a premature death. In the very 
prime of manhood, when it was not expected, death came 
to him. As we see it, as we believe it, it was a premature 
death, and that brings to us the thought of the three great 
manifestations — birth, life, and death — all of them sur- 
rounded by a veil of mystery. We can not understand 
them. And as we think of death we so often think of it 
in its horrors. We are separated from our friends and 
our loved ones, we are deprived of their association and 
their company. It is a deprivation that comes with great 
horror to us, and we think almost exclusively of the 
horrors of death. 

37673°— 17 3 [33] 



Memorial Addresses : Representative Witherspoon 

Mr. Speaker, should we not sometimes think of the 
opportunities and the privileges of death? I have my 
loved ones who have gone before, as all of us have. As 
we stand at their grave, whether it is a sunken hole or a 
grassy mound covered with flowers, still it is a grave. Or 
if we in our solitude, alone with ourselves, meditate over 
the loved ones who have gone before, there comes the 
recollection of one instance that I think has more of 
comfort, more of light, than any other recorded in history. 

There comes to us the thought of that early morning 
of the first day of the week, when the women hurried 
to the new-made tomb, and, as they looked in, found Him 
not. And then it was that the angel said, " He is not 
here; He is risen." Ah, Mr. Speaker, when we meditate 
around the graves of our loved ones, whether it be the 
sunken hole or the flower-covered mound, there is a 
comfort and a joy and a consolation to realize that they 
are not there; that they are risen — risen not in imagina- 
tion, risen not in a dream, but risen into life, into that 
higher, grander, better life, where the opportunities shall 
be the opportunities of eternity, and where the privileges 
are the privileges of the infinite. 

If in this life we have studied and been interested in 
the sciences, what shall be the opportunities and the privi- 
leges over there? If here we have been interested in law 
and government, what shall be the privileges and oppor- 
tunities of etei-nity and infinity in the development of the 
studies and the ambitions of life along those lines? Here 
we are hampered by the limitations of the flesh. I think 
we have good illustrations of it. 1 can see around me in a 
limited way, but if I take the telescope my vision is far 
extended. I can hear around me for a limited distance, 
but if I catch the telephone to my ear, how many thou- 
sand, thousand, thousand times it is multiplied. 



[34] 



Address of Mr. Padgeit, of Tennessee 

The limitations of the flesh are many and they prescribe 
the spheres of our activities. When the habiliments of 
the flesh are rift away, and we are brought into com- 
munion and fellowship with eternity, with the privileges 
of the infinite, then we shall have opportunity to receive 
the dividends upon the investments that we have made 
in this life and have their continual enjoyment forever. 

Mr. Speaker, when we meditate over the death of om* 
friend, let not the horror of death alone possess us, but 
let us think of the opportunities and the privileges of 
that higher, nobler, better life in which to-day we can 
say of our friend, " He is not here; he is risen." 



[35] 



Address of Mr. Humphreys, of Mississippi 

Mr. Speaker : I believe that few men indeed with whom 
I have served in Congress during the past 14 years have so 
impressed their character upon the minds and consciences 
of their colleagues as did my distinguished friend. He 
was a scholar and a man of great industry, and therefore 
rose to eminence in the profession which he chose and 
became a leader of his people. Later in life than most 
men who enter this Hall, he was selected as a Representa- 
tive of his people on this floor. There were two elements 
in his character which distinguished him above his fel- 
lows. First, he was honest. I mean he had intellectual 
integrity developed to a degree far beyond that possessed 
by the average man. He brought all the processes of that 
scholarly intellect to bear upon the solution of all ques- 
tions which he was called upon as a public servant to 
solve. He never approached any question except with an 
open mind, with an honest and an earnest desire to arrive 
at the very truth. And in that endeavor I believe he was 
deflected from his course as little by the petty consid- 
erations that sometimes influence men as any man I have 
ever known. 

He desired to know the right, that which was best for 
those whom he represented; and his constituency, as he 
understood it, were the people of these United States. 
To say to him when he was studjdng any question that 
" this is the course which the political organization to 
which he belonged preferred," or that " this was the view 
of the administration of the party to which he owed 
allegiance," or that " that was certainly the course which 
would meet with popular approval "—I say to suggest 
such considerations to him was to idly waste the breath. 

[36] 



Address of Mr. Humphreys, of Mississippi 

He brushed those aside without one moment's considera- 
tion. 

When he took the oath of office at this desk he did it 
seriously, for he was a serious man. He took this life 
and all of its duties and responsibilities seriously. And 
when he entered here upon the discharge of his public 
duties, he did it without mental reservation and with the 
full understanding that he was to sacrifice all that meant 
his personal advancement and preferment to the good 
of those he was called upon to serve. 

And then there was another quality which he pos- 
sessed — courage. Having arrived at the conclusion to 
which his mental processes had led him after study and 
research, he never faltered for one moment in the advo- 
cacy of that which he had determined to be right. I 
believe that no man with whom I have served could more 
truthfully have said. 

Set honour in one eye and death i' the other, 
And I will look on both indifferently; 
For let the gods so speed me as I love 
The name of honour more than I fear death. 

I have spoken of two elements in his character. There 
was another. It was gentleness; that gentleness which 
enkindleth nobleness. I believe in all my acquaintance 
I have never known a man fuller of the milk of human 
kindness than Sam "Witherspoon. He and I were intimate 
and devoted friends, yet, perhaps, in our study of political 
and economic questions we arrived at the same conclu- 
sion about as rarely as any other two men in the House; 
but in spite of that, I never failed to get a cordial, kindly, 
and affectionate greeting from him. 

Mr. Speaker, it occurs to me peculiarly appropriate that 
the memorial services should be held over Sam Wither- 
spoon at this particular time, at this particular crisis in 
the affairs of our Government, when to-day, as much as 

[37] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Witherspoon 



ever before in the long history of the Republic, men 
should be courageous, men should look the situation 
squarely in the face and render the verdict of their con- 
science, serving their country and serving their country's 
good with utter disregard for the minor considerations 
of personal interest or of political advantage. And in 
this crisis, when so much is required of every representa- 
tive of our people, if the contemplation of the character 
of our departed brother, who was to all of us the very 
embodiment of honor and courage, if the contemplation 
of that great character at this particular time can furnish 
us inspiration to be true to ourselves and, therefore, false 
to no man, we can say of him, although departed, as 
Brutus said on that fateful night before Philippi — 

O Julius Cspsar, thou art mighty yet! 

Mr. Witherspoon was in all particulars a manly man. 
He was as gentle as a woman, and as brave as Julius 
Ctesar. He was strenuous, he was aggressive in the ad- 
vocacy of what he conceived to be right, and yet we all 
recognize that though he was persistent, though he was 
insistent, though he was, in advocacy of what he believed 
to be right, radical and aggressive, he was, nevertheless — 

* * ' gentle, and the elements 

So mix'd in him that Nature might stand up 

And say to all the world, " This was a man I " 






[38] 



Address of Mr. Hensley, of Missouri 

Mr. Speaker: Judge Witherspoon and I entered the 
Sixty-second Congress together. If I mistake not, %ve met 
at the Democratic caucus held in Januar\', 1911. It was 
my good fortune that we were given the same committee 
assignment — that of Naval Affairs. I say, it was my 
good fortune, as indeed it was, for so long as I am blessed 
with life and reason I shall cherish in the fondest way 
my association with Judge Witherspoon upon the com- 
mittee, in the Halls of Congress, and wherever our duties 
called us while Congress was in session, which was almost 
continuously for four years. I firmly believe that Judge 
Witherspoon was one of the rarest specimens of true 
American manhood, combining genius, statesmanship, and 
integrity and great industry', together with the enthusiasm 
of a patriot, who has ever occupied a seat in this historic 
Hall. I never have seen a person fonder of children than 
he appeared to he. He seemed not to overlook an oppor- 
tunity to give attention to them. I have often said that I 
would rather offend a grown person than a child, because 
the impressions made upon their little minds are more 
lasting than we sometimes think. Only a few evenings 
ago I was reading in the hearing of my 10-year-old boy the 
address made in Judge Witherspoon's memorj' by his 
lifelong friend and law partner — which, by the way, is a 
most complete storj' of the life of Judge Witherspoon, 
told in a very beautiful way. When I had concluded it I 
looked up and found my boy in tears. I asked him, 
" Robert, did you like Judge Witherspoon?" And he re- 
plied, " Yes, daddy; I loved him." 



[39] 



Memorial Addresses : Representative Witherspoon 

Great men often are so different from others that they 
are frequently misunderstood. He appeared not to be 
understood by some, and because of this misunderstand- 
ing, real or feigned, he was sometimes assailed and criti- 
cized. I desire here and now to give expression to this 
fact, so it may go into the Record in cold type, that, in 
my opinion, there is no person who entertained a higher 
regard for, or warmer appreciation of, the professional 
men in the department with which his committee had to 
do than did Judge Witherspoon. He was a real friend of 
the service, and the men in the service of that department 
of Government. Yet, Mr. Speaker, he believed that it 
was a department of Government and that it existed for 
the good and the gloiy of the Government. His courage 
stood out in bold relief here in these Halls where we see 
so much side-stepping. I shall never forget how appalled 
I was on that morning when meeting two reporters down 
on Pennsylvania Avenue they announced to me the death 
of Judge Witherspoon. It seems to me that of all times 
we need liis service most now. We need his courage as 
an example to us. We need him now, with his words of 
wisdom, upon these questions that are fraught with such 
consequences to the country, because, Mr. Speaker, as his 
colleague from Mississippi [Mr. Hmnphreys] has so elo- 
quently said, he was prompted by the highest motives in 
all his utterances and was not fearful that something that 
he might say here would get back home and affect him 
personally to liis disadvantage. He did not quake or 
tremble when questions, however trying, came up for 
decision, nor did he weigh them with the mathematical 
precision with which a chemist weighs his compounds, 
observing with the closest scrutiny possible the effect his 
decision or vote would have upon liis personal fortunes, 
but with a burning ambition to serve the great body of 
people who intrusted him with authoritj', devoid of self- 
ishness and sophistry, he took his stand as a manly man. 

[40] 



Address of Mr. Hensley, of Missouri 

Let it be said to his credit that no person ever heard 
him refer to his home people in other than the most 
affectionate terms. His love for his people and his State 
approached a passion. If this trait was equaled by any 
other, it was his zeal and candor, supported by his per- 
sistent determination to promote the welfare of his State 
and Nation by protecting, as he believed, e\er\ inherent 
right that belonged to the individual in the face of great 
opposition and sometimes vile abuse directed at him by 
those whose schemes he interfered with. It is so easy for 
one to go with the current, but it takes superior courage 
and manhood for a man to stand by the right, as God has 
given him to see the right, in spite of great influences 
which sometimes resort to abuse and slander. 

There are many incidents I could relate that would 
give those here who did not know him as well as I did, 
and those who may peruse the Record and these facts, a 
better insight into his nature and to the man himself. 
On the many trips taken by the Committee on Naval 
Affairs, whether we were visiting navy yards or other 
points of interest to the Government, he was at all times 
giving his closest attention to the things about him. 

I shall not take up more of the time of the House, ex- 
cepting to say that on one occasion while in Philadelphia, 
when several committees of the House and other citizens 
were visiting that city, there was a scene that I shall 
always recall in the old Continental Hall, the chief attrac- 
tion, of course, in that great city of Philadelphia. It was 
along in the afternoon of the day when it so happened 
that a number of us were present in that almost sacred 
precinct. Among those present were Members of the 
House, as well as others, and if my memory serves me 
correctly it was Congressman Donohoe who announced 
to the crowd, " Gentlemen, here in this presence and on 
this occasion we have a number of Members of Congress 



[41] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Witherspoon 

from several States of the Union, and it would be fitting, 
it seems to me, if some of those present would say some- 
thing to this body of people gathered here." I do not 
recall the number of Members who talked on that occa- 
sion, or who they were, excepting Judge Hardy, of Texas, 
and some two or three others, including Judge Wither- 
spoon. A more impressive occasion, it seems to me, would 
be hard to imagine. Standing there among the old furni- 
ture and chairs occupied by the fathers of our country 
and near the table upon which the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence and the Constitution of the United States were 
signed, and with the portraits of those great men ap- 
parently looking down upon us, and among those por- 
traits was that of his kinsman, John Witherspoon, was 
an experience that I shall never forget. I think it was the 
most impressive occasion of my life. 

Mr. Speaker, I am reminded that we too frequently 
put off making reference to those qualities we admire in 
our friends until occasions of this kind. It seems to me 
that it would be better if we could occasionally say a 
word of cheer to our friends while we are with them 
than to wait until they are gone and then say it in the 
presence of others; and on this occasion it affords me 
pleasure that I recall that during one of the fights which 
were being waged on the naval appropriation bill I took 
occasion to use the following language upon the floor of 
the House during the lifetime of Judge Witherspoon : 

Mr. Chairman, I hope to get great pleasure later in life out of 
things incident to my service in Congress. Chief among them 
are friendships formed while here, and among all the friendships 
formed here I count as one of the rarest and sweetest the friend- 
ship for and my association with one whom I regard among the 
ablest and most patriotic, as well as the purest in mind and 
soul — Judge Witherspoon, of Mississippi. 

I am not rebellious against that power that " doeth all 
things well " because of the taking off of those whom I 

[42] 



Address or Mr. Hensley, of Missouri 

love, though I sometimes am compelled to confess that 
I can not understand these purposes, and it is well, per- 
haps, that I do not understand them. I felt, and there are 
many others, no doubt, who felt as 1 did, that we needed 
Judge WiTHERSPOox. As said of Saul, " He stood a head 
above his brothers." He was a towering oak in the forest. 
In my opinion, not only his district and his State, but the 
Nation, in his death sustained an irreparable loss. 

Life: We've been long together. 

Through pleasant and through cloudy weather; 

'Tis hard to part when friends are dear; 

Perhaps 'twill cause a sigh, a tear. 

Then steal away, give little warning; 

Choose thine own time; 

Say not good night, but in some brighter clime 

Bid me good morning. 



[43] 



Address of Mr. Callaway, of Texas 

Mr. Speaker : I have tried upon various occasions since 
I was notified that we were going to liave these memorial 
services to-day to write something respecting our de- 
parted friend, but I have not yet been able to do it. I 
may never be able to do it. On one other occasion 1 was 
unable to write anything about a deceased friend. He 
had stood by me and supported my ideals and policies 
from the time 1 was a boy. He died while I was away 
from home. I tried to write a letter to his wife, but I 
was never able to do it. And so it has been with respect 
to Judge Witherspoon. 

When I first met him in the Sixty-second Congress I 
was not so very much impressed by his general appear- 
ance and bearing. The only noticeable and striking thing 
about him on first meeting was the frankness, openness, 
sincerity, and tenderness that gleamed in his eyes. There 
was nothing in his general bearing or appearance other 
than the beauty of expression in his face that made you 
realize on first meeting that you were in the presence of 
one of the purest, noblest, tenderest, and sweetest charac- 
ters that it is ever the good fortune of any mortal to come 
in contact with in this life. 

He was as pure as a woman and as tender as a child. 
This was one side of this admirable and pure man; but 
there was another side which, when I knew him better, 
when I had seen him tried, and had worked with him, 
aroused in me the supremest admiration. He was fixed 
in his principles as the eternal hills, never questioning 
what the advantages or disadvantages of his position were 
to him politically; he was unyielding as adamant when a 
fundamental question was at stake, fearless as the im- 

[44] 



Address of Mr. Callaway, of Texas 



mortal Caesar in his stand for the right. He demonstrated 
conclusively his deathless faith in the ultimate triumph 
of right and justice by his unwavering stand on public 
questions, regardless of how unpopular that stand might 
seem to be. The question with him was always, " How 
will this matter affect the future of this Republic and the 
welfare of the masses, who ask nothing but the usufruct 
of their endeavor, who eat their bread in the sweat of 
their faces?" 

He was a real man. What he said was what he thought, 
what he acted were his convictions. He had neither 
sympathy nor tolerance for sham, hypocrisy, and make- 
believe. The patent saying of so many Representatives, 
" "What the people do not know will hurt them not," 
aroused him to righteous indignation. He believed in a 
democratic, representative form of government, respon- 
sive to the will and interests of the masses, but he knew 
the checks and balances provided in the Constitution of 
the United States by the forefathers of this Republic were 
necessary to prevent hasty and ill-considered action in 
times of upheaval or excitement. He stood an impreg- 
nable barrier against popular prejudice or passion when 
it threatened to overturn reason or dethrone justice. 

He knew human nature, he knew how subject it was 
to influence by interest, how it might be swayed by pas- 
sions, how it might be blinded by prejudices and momen- 
tarily swept from its moorings and carried far afield by 
false statements of facts, false logic, and shortsighted- 
ness; but he had an abiding faith in the common judg- 
ment and the common conscience, and he knew the 
masses of mankind would act right, if left free and 
unhampered in their actions, when the facts were all in 
and the conscience appealed to. 

He was truly a great man with a mind that saw through 
the sham and seeming of things— the real things them- 



[45] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Witherspoon 

selves— with a soul that understood. Never in the history 
of our country was the need so urgent for men fearless 
as he was fearless, learned as he was learned, logical as 
he was logical, and forceful as he was forceful, to hold 
back the onrushing hordes seeking to break down the 
principles of this democratic Republic by taking advan- 
tage of the feverish state of the public mind and per- 
suading the people unwittingly to accept a policy of 
militarism before all the facts can be obtained and con- 
sidered. By the clamor of the press, by the organized 
effort of the powerful pecuniary interests, by the excite- 
ment and fright of many in the nervous, uncertain, and 
fevei'ish state of the public mind, the average Representa- 
tive is driven like chaff before the wind to accept what 
temporarily seems to be the popular demand, lest he pay 
with his political life for his devotion to the best interests 
of his countrj' before the settled and sober judgment can 
be obtained. Samuel A. Witherspoon was not made of 
such stuff. He accepted public office with its responsi- 
bilities and administered it conscious of the rectitude of 
his own purpose without regard to the political conse- 
quences to himself. Public office to him did not mean 
emoluments spelled with capitals, it meant opportunity 
to serve humanity. Emoluments of office and the honors 
attendant were incidents, the purpose for which he held 
office was to serve his country and his kind. He knew 
there was only one way a Representative could render 
such service and that was by knowing the questions he 
was called to pass upon and then exercising his honest 
judgment in passing on them. He knew he could not 
exercise the judgment of some one else, he knew he could 
not exercise the popular judgment of his district except 
as reflected in himself. 

The public could not know the subject as he knew it. 
It had neither the time nor the opportunity to understand 

[46] 



Address of Mr. Callaway, of Texas 



it that he had; it had not put the thought to it that he had. 
He represented their sentiments as in his heart of hearts 
he felt they ought to be, and he trusted they would see the 
correctness of his position as he saw it when he had 
argued it out with them. He was not awed by place and 
power. Fame did not appeal to him; he recognized that 
it was but the ephemeral dew on character's everlasting 
gold. He followed no man because that man was much 
esteemed by his fellows. The attitude on public questions 
of tlie man high up influenced him as mucli as — and no 
more than — the attitude of the humblest citizen. His 
mind was guided by the reasons given by each so far as 
their reasons appealed to liis judgment; so far was he 
influenced and no further. 

He knew his own motives and his own purposes, and he 
did not allow himself to be stopped short of the basic 
facts. He had perfect confidence in his ability to reason 
to right conclusions, and when he had reached a final 
judgment he had faith in it and held to it with a tenacity 
and fixedness of purpose rarely met with. 

Mr. Speaker, many here have spoken of the splendid 
culture of this great soul, of his ability as a lawyer, of the 
unerring logic of his mind and the eloquence of his 
tongue. 1 want to show if I can the brightest jewel in his 
crown of jewels — the key to his real character, to the 
steadfastness of it, the unpretentiousness of it. In my 
Judgment that key is revealed in his own words from a 
speech he delivered May 4, 1914, on the death of Elzie C. 
Fisher, who lost his life at Vera Cruz the 23d of April, 
1914: 

Mr. Speaker, learning and intellect and eloquence and courage 
do not make the noblest acts of human beings. It is self-sacrifice 
that raises the act of a man to its highest point. He who gives his 
life for his country makes the nearest approach to the fulfillment 
of the divine command, " Thou shall love thy neiglibor as thy- 
self "; and the death of this ordinary seaman, by its very contrast 

[471 



]Memori.\l Addresses: Representative Witherspoon 

with the magnitude of his sacrifice, emphasizes and increases the 
nobility of his act. 

" Honor and shame from no condition rise; 
Act well your part, there all the honor lies." 

Judge Witherspoon said: 

It is self-sacrifice that raises the act of a man to its highest 
point. 

It takes greater than an average man to do that. Judge 
Witherspoon's whole service in the American Congress 
was a sacrifice of self for the public weal. He was a rare 
man — not imposing in his bearing, but a great, strong, de- 
pendable, and lovable character. 



[48] 



Address of Mr. Bailey, of Pennsylvania 

Mr. Speaker: It seems to nie that I would be untrue to 
the memory of that splendid soul, which, in the zenith 
of its power and in the verj' flower of its usefulness to 
humanity, was called to join the choir invisible if in some 
small way, at least, I did not remind those who are gath- 
ered here to-day of the sentiment which swayed the life 
of the friend who has gone before, and therefore I shall 
speak a word or two regarding the tie which bound me 
to the lamented dead. It was a tie of brotherhood, of 
common sympathy, of like purpose. When I became a 
Member of this great body in the Sixty-third Congress 
it was but natural that I should cast about me for men 
who felt as I feel touching some of the great questions 
with which we were called upon to deal; and it was not 
long before I discovered in the late Judge Witherspoon 
a soul responsive to my own in one of the most vital 
matters which have ever confronted the American people. 

Judge Witherspoon drew me to him by his hatred of 
war, by his hatred of the war spirit, by his merciless 
antagonism to that sham patriotism which finds expres- 
sion in the doctrines of force, by his masterful opposition 
to the propaganda of jingoism masquerading under the 
guise of preparedness. Perhaps there has never been a 
Member of Congress more thoroughly equipped than 
Judge Witherspoon for combating the monstrous false 
pretense against which he waged ceaseless battle. And 
just a few days before his death he wrote me from his 
home in Meridian to say that he was ready to renew the 
fray the moment the new Congress should enter upon its 
work. He had mastered the technique of ships and guns. 
He knew more than the experts concerning these matters. 
He was able to confound all their arguments. Ever^' plea 

37673°— 17 i [49] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Witherspoon 

they set up was a challenge to him which he was able to 
meet with an unerring answer. His value to this House 
and to the country it would be impossible to overestimate. 
The loss to us and to the United States which his death 
has caused I shall not attempt to set forth. Yet I feel 
certain that were he alive to-day his influence in checking 
the tremendous movement toward militarism would be 
felt from shore to shore. 

The man in whose memoi-y we are gathered to-day had 
a dream — a dream of peace. And — 

He whom a dream hath possessed knoweth no more of doubting, 
For mist and the blowing of winds and the mouthing of words 
he scorns: 
Not the sinuous speech of schools he hears, but a knightly 
shouting; 
And never comes darkness down, yet he greeteth a million 
morns. 

He whom a dream hath possessed treads the impalpable marches. 

From the dust of the day's long road he leaps to a laughing star. 
And the ruin of worlds that fall he views from eternal arches. 

And rides God's battlefield in a flashing and golden car. 

Yes; Samuel Witherspoon was possessed by a dream. 
And it was a splendid dream — a dream of a world at 
peace; of a world forgetting its old rancors, its old jeal- 
ousies, its old prejudices, its old blood lust; a world given 
to high ideals, to quiet labors, to constructive activities, 
to education, to the inculcation of love, to the upbuilding 
of all that is sweet and noble and fine in human life. 

He has gone before his dream has come true. But it 
will come true in God's good time; and all the sooner for 
this man having lived and having possessed it and been 
possessed by it. In all tenderness of affectionate regard 
for the memoi-y of one who wrought nobly while it was 
permitted him to work, I lay my humble tribute on his 
grave and join with all who knew and loved him in 
garlanding his tomb. 

[50] 



Address of Mr. Farr, of Pennsylvania 

Mr. Speaker : I did not intend to speak on this occasion, 
but I shall not forego the opportunity to indorse the splen- 
did tributes paid to Judge Witherspoon as just in every 
respect, handsome as they are. I early came in contact 
with Judge Witherspoon as a new Member of this great 
body and that feeling of sentiment which goes out to 
first-term men, one to the other, enhanced our relations. 
The announcement of his death was a great shock to me 
and I felt that a splendid, good, useful, honest, patriotic 
man had been taken from our midst. He was strong, 
able, kind, gentle, loving, and lovable. He gave from the 
bottom of his heart the best that was in him for humanity, 
and he got the best from humanity. A combative force, 
powerful, strong, he realized the great truth in tliis life 
that the empire we possess is within us and the responsi- 
bility is upon us to develop the powers wliich God has 
given us for the good of mankind. He was an honest man 
and I know that he was a kindly man. We served on the 
Committee on Naval Affairs. We disagreed, 1 verj' ma- 
terially from him, but he was tolerant and kind, as all 
strong, capable men are. 

We disagree frequently on this floor, but through those 
differences clearer distinctions arise and better results 
follow to the people. 

Personal misconceptions arise in this large body through 
lack of opportunity to really know each other. In this 
connection it is pertinent to recall a colloquy said to have 
taken place between Samuel Johnson and Oliver Gold- 
smith. They were walking along the street one day, and 
Johnson, looking across the highway, said. " I hate that 
man over there." The genial, warm-hearted Goldsmith, 



[51] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Witherspoon 

turning to Johnson with much surprise, said, " Johnson, 
you do not know that man. Why should you hate him? " 
Johnson replied, " That is the reason. If I did know him 
I would love him." 

Many of us had the great privilege of knowing Judge 
Witherspoon, and I do not tliink any man in this House 
had ill feeling toward him. Indeed in my time here no 
Member had more warm, earnest, understanding friends 
than he. 



[52] 



Address of Mr. Brumbaugh, of Ohio 

Mr. Speaker: While in attendance at church this Sab- 
bath morning a colleague informed me that memorial 
exercises were being held in the House of Representatives 
in memory of our late departed friend. Judge Wither- 
SPOON. As soon as 1 could conveniently do so, I left that 
place of worship and came to this Hall, which to us all 
on this occasion carries with it all the sacred feeling that 
a place of worship could signify. I wanted to attend 
these exercises simply in order that by my presence here 
I might pay my tribute of love and respect to my friend's 
memory', whose friendship I enjoyed and whose char- 
acter I admired. Since coming into the Hall I have been 
requested to speak a word on this occasion. It is a 
pleasure and labor of love to comply with this request, 
although I regret greatly that I did not know of these 
exercises before coming, so that I might have had time to 
prepare some remarks that, in a feeble way at least, 
would be partly indicative of my high regard and warm 
personal esteem for Judge Witherspoon. 

In life Judge Witherspoon was a likable, lovable char- 
acter. To those who did not enjoj' the pleasure of his 
acquaintance he ma^' have seemed stern and severe, but 
to those to whom he gave his confidence and friendship, 
while he was always all that a true man should be, yet he 
was as genUe as a child. 1 had the pleasure of living 
with him for almost two years. We both resided at the 
same hotel in the city, and I came to know him well and 
to admire and love him greatly. It was always a pleasure 
to me after a hard day's work to have the opportunity 
to draw my chair up by his side and to enjoy the rare 
pleasure of his society, wisdom, and scholarship. Judge 

[53] 



Memorial Addresses : Representative Witherspoon 

WiTHERSPOON was an exact man and a finished scholar. 
We used to love to exchange quotations from Shakes- 
peare, the poets, and the old masters. I soon observed 
that when he quoted from Shakespeare or the classics he 
would not quote something about like the masters wrote 
it, but he quoted it in the exact words they used, and this 
was characteristic of his information on all lines. It was 
exact, precise, and thorough. 

Judge Witherspoon was a man of striking personality, 
a personality that left its impress upon all whom he met. 
From my boyhood days I have carried in my mind certain 
pictures such as we all love to carry, certain pictures of 
unique characters of whom we have read but never seen. 
I had read much in books about one delightful character 
commonly termed the typical old southern gentleman. 
but I never met in the flesh a man who just filled that 
picture in my mind until I met Judge Witherspoon. 

No one could know Judge Witherspoon without feeling 
that here was a man who filled to overflow the great 
measures of life, honor, faithfulness, and loyalty to a 
principle. I once said to him when he was relating some 
of his law experiences, "Judge, were I friendless, a 
stranger, innocent, and in trouble I should ask no greater 
favor than to have you either for the prosecutor or for the 
attorney in charge of my defense." As prosecutor I be- 
lieve that justice would be mingled with mercy and that 
nothing could induce him to go beyond that limit. His 
nature was tempered with sincere love for his fellow men 
and he could look at their frailties with an eye of pity. 

Everyone who knew Judge Witherspoon had the most 
profound regard for him in every way, because he pos- 
sessed all the great elements that go to make up true 
character, and at last, gentlemen, character is the one 
real essential of life. All other attainments fade and 
perish, but character shines on. When the greatest posi- 
tions and attainments are forgotten character still sur- 

[54] 



Address of Mr. Brumbaugh, of Ohio 

vives. It is the one thing that is immortal, tliat lives on 
bathed in immortality. 

When I first heard of his sudden death I could not have 
been more surprised and shocked to hear of the death of 
anyone outside of a near relative than I was when I heard 
of the death of Judge Witherspoon. I said of him and 
about him to a friend, here was a man like a tall oak in 
the forests that had fallen that towered above the ordi- 
nary man among his fellows, and I said of him and about 
him, he has so left the noble traits of his character im- 
pressed upon his fellow men that his influence will be like 
that of the shepherd of King Admetus : 

And after he was dead and gone, 
And e'en his memory dim, 
• Earth seems more sweet to live upon, 
More full of love, because of him. 

So shall we think of him in loving remembrance as 
having left to us a rich heritage of faith and courage for 
all the years to come. 

Death takes us by surprise 

And stays our hurrying feet; 
The great design unfinished lies. 

Our lives are incomplete. 

But in the dark unknown 

Perfect their circles seem. 
Even as a bridge's arch of stone 

Is rounded in the stream. 

So when a great man dies. 

For years beyond our ken, 
The light he leaves behind him lies 

Upon the paths of men. 

Garlands upon his grave. 

And flowers upon his hearse, 
And to the tender heart and brave 

The tribute of this verse. 

[55] 



Address of Mr. Lobeck, of Nebraska 

Mr. Speaker : We are gathered here to-day to show our 
love and respect for our dear departed colleague, the Hon. 
Samuel A. Witherspoon. 

It was my great pleasure to personally become ac- 
quainted with this splendid man. For a time we lived at 
the same hotel, and therefore we were much together, 
walking to and from our daily duties. In these walks 
through the beautiful grounds of the Capitol, we talked 
over the affairs of the day, of the needs of our country, of 
our people, and our loved ones at home. In our conver- 
sation about our homes his uppermost thought was for 
the comfort of liis loved ones, which, to my mind, shows 
the vei-y best traits in a man, for when the husband and 
father has the welfare of his family uppermost in his 
mind, I know that he is a manly man, a dear husband, 
and a loving father. 

We talked about our people. He would tell me of his 
affection for the people of his district and in turn I would 
tell of my people, and no Congressman was more true to 
his constituency than Judge Witherspoon. 

Again our conversation would be on the needs of the 
people, of the needs of the Nation, of our duties to them 
as Members of Congress. Judge Witherspoon's opinions 
on legislation were of the highest order. I did not always 
agree with him as to methods of legislation, but I de- 
lighted to hear him state his \ievjs, for I was benefited by 
them. He made a close study of legislation and we 
eagerly listened to his views, for he had studied the sub- 
ject on which he would express an opinion. 

In oratory he excelled; his speeches on the flag were 
marvels of diction and rarely excelled by any Member. 



[56] 



Address of Mr. Lobeck, of Nebraska 

He gave special study to the defense of the Nation. His 
addresses on the needs of the American Na\y were prob- 
ably the best prepared by any Member in Congress in 
many years. He had given the subject the most earnest 
and careful study and research, and his remarks were 
listened to with greatest respect because of his intimate 
knowledge of the subject. 

I became a Member of Congress at the same time with 
Judge WiTHERSPOON, and from the very first he com- 
manded my admiration and respect, which grew into a 
lasting friendship. I had not heard of his illness, and the 
day the news came that Congressman Witherspoon was 
no more, to me it came as a personal loss. I felt that a 
dear friend had gone away to be with us no more. I said 
" no more " — no, no, I do not mean that — as long as mem- 
ory shall last. Judge Witherspoon will be with me in 
spirit. His kindly face comes to me again and again. I 
remember his friendly advice, and it spurs me on to live 
a better life, to lend a helping hand to my fellow men, to 
love and give my very best efforts to my loved ones, to be 
a manly man in all the words imply. No longer is Judge 
Witherspoon with us, but his memory is dear, for it leads 
us that knew him to better thoughts, to higher ideals of 
living. "My niemorj' of Judge Witherspoon and his char- 
acter recalls the words of Channing, who once wrote : 

The greatest man is he who chooses the right with invincible 
resolution; who resists the sorest temptations from within and 
without; who bears the heaviest burdens cheerfully; who is calm- 
est in storms, and most fearless under menace and frowns; and 
■whose reliance on truth, and on God, is most unfaltering. 

Judge Witherspoon fully measured up to this tribute of 
great men, and he will ever be remembered by his asso- 
ciates and neighbors as a high-minded, pure, and strong 
man. 



[57] 



Address of Mr. Rainey, of Illinois 

Mr. Speaker: I gladly accept this opportunity to pay 
my last tribute of respect to the memory of my friend. 

I knew Judge Witherspoon better than most men. 
Early in his career as a Member of this House 1 learned 
to respect his sterling honesty and his conscientious ad- 
herence to duty as he saw it. In all his acts, whether 
as a Member of this body or as a practicing lawyer, 
as a citizen, as the father of a family, he consulted 
first of all his conscience. He was in all the emergencies 
of this life an honest man. And I have often thought 
that if after I have passed through the doors of this 
life into the great beyond men could say this of me, they 
would be paying me the highest possible compliment. 
He was splendidly endowed by education, by inherited 
tendencies, and culture for the duties of the life which 
it seems to our human minds has been closed all too soon. 
In all the circumstances of this life he discharged his full 
duty to his countiy, to his district, to his State, to his com- 
munity, to his family, to himself. To-day over his grave 
in the far-off Southland the warm breezes of spring are 
blowing. May the winds of winter blow soft and low 
where he lies, may the earth rest lightly always upon the 
heart of Samuel A. Witherspoon, of Mississippi. 

His was a busy, active life. In this world of men he 
was a man, brave, honest, true. 

The stars do not go down — they only rise on another 
shore; they shine somewhere always, bright jewels in the 
great dome of heaven. 

The flowers fade and pass away, the leaves fall, but 
they are not dead; they only wait through cold wintry 
months the coming again of the sun and the sweet, warm 
breezes of spring. 

[58] 



I 



Address of Mr. Rainey, of Illinois 



There came a time in his busy career, the time which 
sooner or later comes to all of us, when the tide is low — 
the time when the night comes down and covers with its 
dark curtains the day, while from far out on the cold 
waters of the unknown sea is heard the call of voices. In 
the silent hush of the pale twilight he sailed away through 
the purple shadows out on the ebbing tide of the unknown 
sea on toward the far-off mystic isles where in a safe 
anchorage lie the craft of those who have gone before. 

Our friend is not dead; he has but passed through the 
clouds and the mists which envelop the day; he has en- 
tered into the newer and larger life on the unseen shore 
beyond the unknown sea. 



[59] 



Address of Mr. Collier, of Mississippi 

Mr. Speaker: We have assembled here to-day to pay 
a tribute of love and respect to the memorj^ of our de- 
parted colleague, the late lamented Samuel Andrew 

WiTHERSPOON. 

It was my good fortune to become intimately acquainted 
with Mr. WiTHERSPOON, we both having lived at the same 
hotel for several years. My acquaintance with our late 
colleague began when he first came to Congress, and it 
soon ripened into a sincere friendship, which lasted until 
his death. Judge Witherspoon was a unique figure; an 
able lawyer, possessing a keen, discriminating, analytic 
mind, he yet was in some respects a dreamer and a poet. 
He was one of the closest reasoners I have ever known. 
Once the premises were admitted he would irresistibly 
reach a conclusion. In arguing with him, to admit a 
single one of his premises was to court defeat. The safest 
plan was always to enter a general denial. His moral 
courage was superb. I have never known anyone in 
public life possessed of more courage than he and as 
fearless in expressing his opinion on the floor of the 
House. Whether a measure was popular or not was a 
question that never entered Mr. Witherspoon's mind. 
He never paused for a moment to reflect what conse- 
quences his vote might have upon his own political for- 
tunes. Having decided views on every public question, 
there was no middle course that he ever traveled. What 
he believed to be right was the only standard bj' which 
he measured his expressions in the House and to the 
country. 

When there was a great clamor for Federal appropria- 
tions for good roads, and a bill to appropriate aid to 
nearly everj' rural route in the United States came up 
for final passage in the House of Representatives, Mr. 

[60] 



Address of Mr. Collier, oi- Mississippi 



WiTHERSPOON, standing upon his ideals of local self- 
government, cast prudence to the winds and voted 
against the appropriation. 

Perhaps the strongest advocate of prohibition in a dele- 
gation where all are in favor of State and National 
prohibition, he again stood upon his ideals of local self- 
government and opposed the Hobson amendment, though 
none knew better than he how his position, both at home 
and abroad, would be misconstrued. 

Powerful in debate, subtle in argument, rich in infor- 
mation, and analytical in his conclusions, he always had 
an audience when he addressed the House, commanding 
alike the respect and interest of all who heard him. I 
have frequently made the statement, and I still believe it 
to be true, that Judge Witherspoon knew more about the 
details connected with the American Navy than any other 
man in public life. Though a Member of the House for 
less than five years and coming here with perhaps the only 
information on naval subjects that a busy man, engaged 
in a lucrative practice of law, who spent his leisure hours 
in study, could have obtained, his information was mar- 
velous. Whether it was about the number of guns on a 
battleship, the thickness of the armor plate of a dread- 
naught, the speed of a cruiser, the number of officers or 
men, the size of the various guns, the distance they could 
effectively shoot, the intricacies of target practice, the 
comparative strength of the different navies of the world, 
the formation of a fleet in battle, the cost of the ships and 
their equipment, the time when they were built, their 
tonnage and displacement, the amount of work in differ- 
ent navy yards, or any other detail connected with naval 
affairs, he was thoroughly informed and could answer 
any question asked him. 

It seems almost incredible that in the short space of 
five years Mr. Witherspoon should have become an 
acknowledged authority on such matters. 

[61] 



Memorial Addresses: Representati\'e Witherspoon 

Mr. Witherspoon was an orator of no mean attain- 
ments. There has seldom been in the House of Repre- 
sentatives a greater demonstration of approval than that 
which followed his speech for the preservation of the 
captured flags. Not only was there a stupendous burst 
of applause at the conclusion of his tribute, but Members 
on both sides of the House rushed over to him and ex- 
tended their congratulations. I am going to read you a 
few sentences from that speech : 

When these flags were exhibited to the committee and I saw 
their torn and tattered fragments struggling, as it were, to hold 
together and apparently breaking asunder, like the sunlit shreds 
of a cloud whose glory is about to depart forever, I was unwill- 
ing to say by my vote that those fading emblems of the national 
glory, those neglected tokens of a splendid heroism, those sacred 
rags of an unconquerable Navy, were not worth the cost of their 
preservation. If it be difficult to justify this expenditure, it is 
impossible to excuse an assent to the impending destruction of 
these flags. Written all through their precious folds there are 
lessons which we can not afford to forget, there are memories 
which we can not afi"ord to dim, and there are hopes which we 
can not darken without shutting out the very sunlight of our 
future. These flags tell us of a day when the public good was 
held high above private gain, of a day when American heroes 
hastened to surrender and to sacrifice position, place, property, 
reputation, and life itself for the public good, and when they 
were never seen rushing with open hands into the open Treasury, 
when the value of noble deeds and public victories were not 
measured in dollars and cents. 

They tell us of a day when the essence and the glory of the 
Union were that all the States were equal and when geography, 
but not sentiment, divided our country into sections. 

Equally beautiful was the tribute he paid the American 
flag before the Society of the Sons of the American Revo- 
lution. He said: 

And no further discussion or argument is needed to-night, for 
all that I have said or could say is more beautifully and eloquently 



[62] 



Address of Mr. Collier, of Mississippi 

written and expressed in the precious folds of the glorious tlag 
presented here in your presence. The white stripes, said to be 
bleached with the Nation's tears, teach mankind that peace on 
earth and good will to all men is the policy of our Government, 
while the red bars are the sacred emblem of the heroic blood 
which the fathers of the Revolution shed from Canada to Georgia 
as the purchase price of our liberties and happiness. 

The stars of the flag mark the number of sovereign States, and 
in the sublime language of heaven itself give us the assurance 
that no more will the people of any community in our country 
ever be deprived of the blessings of local self-government, while 
their glorious cluster in the corner of our emblem of liberty 
teaches the lesson that the American States are bound together 
in a Union established for the preservation of liberty. And if 
you want to know how long those stars will continue to shine 
with the stars of heaven and how long that union will fill the 
object of its formation, the flag answers back that those stars 
are clustered together in the background of blue which never 
changes. The tints on the cheeks of the flowers disappear in the 
withering of the petals; the crimson glow of the sunlight in the 
frowning cloud is fleeting and short; the beautiful green with 
which nature robes her leaves and grasses must soon change to 
the colors of decay and death; but when God created the heavens 
He painted the sky with His own fadeless blue, and the paint 
brush, dropping into the deep, wide sea, gave it the same immortal 
hue, and the blessed song of the flag is that so long as the skies 
above us and the seas around us refuse to change their fadeless 
color so long will the Stars and Stripes wave in triumph over the 
land of the brave and the home of the free. 

These lofty thoughts and patriotic utterances conclu- 
sively demonstrated Mr. Witherspoon's capacity as an 
orator. The world is better off that Mr. Witherspoox 
lived. He has passed away and his voice will be heard 
no more upon the floor of this House. His gentle smile 
and friendly handshake are gone, never to return, but 
his winning personalit>-, his rugged honesty, and his ster- 
ling worth will long be remembered by all who knew him. 
He lived a good life and trod with unfaltering steps the 
paths that lead to rectitude and honor. His faith was 

[63] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Witherspoon 

sublime; it was founded upon the rock of ages, and when 
the dread messenger appeared to Mr. Witherspoon he 
" went not like the quarry slave scourged to his dungeon, 
but sustained and soothed by his unfaltering trust, ap- 
proached his grave like one who wraps the drapery of his 
couch around him and lies down to pleasant dreams." 

It was my melancholy privilege to be present at his 
funeral. The business houses of the city of Meridian 
closed their doors in respect to his memory, and the sor- 
rowful crowd which gathered in the Presbyterian Church, 
the funeral cortege which accompanied his remains to the 
cemeterj', the wilderness of flowers laid upon his bier, and 
the look of sorrow and distress upon the faces of all who 
gathered in that silent city of the dead to pay their last 
tribute of respect and love to the memorj' of this good man 
attested the real esteem and worth in which our colleague 
was held by his fellow townsmen. 

Judge Witherspoon was my friend. I was a frequent 
visitor to his office, and we have had many discussions 
over public questions. While we widely differed in our 
views upon many of these questions, yet on the great sub- 
ject of Federal taxation he and I were kindred spirits. 
We thought alike about this question, and I feel indebted 
to him for the many valued suggestions that I received 
from him, who had a thorough understanding of the 
subject. 

Grateful people have throughout the ages erected lofty 
and imposing monuments commemorating the life, the 
character, and virtues of their illustrious dead. These 
monuments are inspirations to generations yet to come, 
lifting them to a higher plane and leading them to a better 
life; but greater than memorials of marble and bronze, 
more than fame and wealth, is the example of one who 
bequeathed to his family and his friends the priceless 
legacy of an honored name and the memoiy of a life 

filled with earnest deeds. 

[64] 



Address of Mr. Kitchin, of North Carolina 

Mr. Speaker: It is a genuine pleasure to join with his 
friends in honoring to-day the memorj' of a man whom 
I admired and loved. I knew our deceased friend perhaps 
as well as any man in Congress did. During his entire 
service as a Member of Congress we lived at the same 
hotel. I knew him in his private room; I knew him in 
the assembly room, in the smoking room of the hotel, 
where every night a half dozen or more Members would 
gather for a social exchange of views. I knew him in the 
cloakroom, in his otfice, in my otEce; I knew him on the 
floor of the House. I have been a Member now 15 years, 
and presume that during that time I have served with 
from fifteen hundred to two thousand Members of Con- 
gress. Of all that number Sam Witherspoon stands out 
in my mind as one of the rare, marked men. I am going 
to say here when he is dead what I have often said while 
he was living, that in many respects he was the superior 
of any man with whom I have ever served in Congress. 
Witherspoon had more courage of conviction than any 
Member whom I have known. His conscience and judg- 
ment blazed and marked out for him the path of duty, 
and down that path he would walk more steadfastly and 
with less swerving than any man with whom I have served. 
He had the most analytical mind of any man in the House. 
His perceptions and conceptions of the different principles 
involved in every question were clearer, he could set out 
the lines of demarcation with more definiteness and ac- 
curacj% than any man with whom I have served. Wither- 
spoon was a man of unusual ability. He was a thinker, a 
profound thinker; a student, a diligent student. He was 
a philosopher, wise and interesting; he was a logician, 

37673°— 17 5 [65] 



Memorial Addeiesses: Representatin'e Withersfoon 



unexcelled. He measured up fully to the standard of 
statesman. 

As has been indicated here, he sometimes voted quite 
differently from many of his colleagues, from myself, 
from his colleagues from Mississippi. Often, in the even- 
ings in the smoking room of the hotel, 1 would hear gentle- 
men discussing with him why he voted this way or that 
way. While I have sometimes thought he voted wrong, 
I have never heard anyone give as good reason why he 
was wrong as Witherspoon could why he was right. I 
have discussed his vote with him sometimes, and I had 
to quietly confess to myself that he had a better reason 
for voting the way he did than I could give why he should 
have voted the other way. He had as little of the dema- 
gogue in him as any man I ever knew — he had none at 
all; he had no hypocrisy about him; he was not a court- 
ier; he was not a bellboy of any man's opinions; he took 
orders from no man. His convictions were his own, and 
they were formed only after the most mature study and 
thought. He never jumped to conclusions. He never 
asked with respect to a single vote he cast in this House, 
Will it hurt or help me in my district? He never asked 
with respect to any measure. Will it pay? The only ques- 
tion he ever asked was. Is it right? And when Wither- 
spoon was convinced that it was right, he so stood, and he 
so voted, absolutely regardless of consequences. 

He was not an orator in the sophomorical sense, but he 
was a real orator, because he always had something to 
say, and he knew how to say it; he always enlightened 
the audience; he was always master of any subject he 
undertook to discuss. He never discussed any proposi- 
tion upon this floor when he did not have the undivided 
attention of everj' man. Republican or Democrat, because 
everj^one knew that Witherspoon had something to say 
worth hearing. 

[66] 



Address of Mr. Kitchin, of North Carolina 



He made no play at rhetoric; he made no attempt at 
eloquent periods. He held attention and asked for judg- 
ment, not by appeals to prejudice, or passion, or senti- 
ment, but by appeals to the cold, calm reason of those 
who heard him. And yet I heard him make the most elo- 
quent, the most delightful, the most charming 10-minute 
speech that I ever heard on this floor. He spoke in favor 
of an appropriation of .1^30,000 for the repair and preser- 
vation of 136 old flags captured by the American Navy in 
conflicts with other navies. There was some opposition. 
WiTHERSPOON, standing just where Mr. Harrison now sits— 
I was sitting by him — seemingly without effort or pre- 
meditation, and altogether impromptu, delivered that 
most charming speech, which we, who were fortunate 
enough to hear it, will never forget. When he concluded 
practically every man on the floor on both sides of the 
aisle gathered about him, with words and handshakes of 
congratulations and commendations. For several min- 
utes he was given an ovation. Some minutes afterwards, 
when the enthusiasm of the House had subsided and other 
business had begun, the ex-Speaker of the House, Mr. 
Cannon, of Illinois, came over here and, looking around, 
came up to me and said, "I am looking for that Mississippi 
man who made that speech a moment ago. I just want 
to shake his hand, for that was one of the most delightful 
talks I ever heard in this House." I told Mr. Cannon that 
he had gone out into the Speaker's lobby. Mr. Cannon 
walked out to the lobby. I saw him shaking hands and 
congratulating Witherspoon. He told me afterwards that 
Mr. Cannon's seeking him out to congratulate him and 
what he said to him was the greatest compliment he had 
ever had paid him since he had been a Member of the 
House. 

I was with Judge Witherspoon a part of the time almost 
every day while he was in Washington. I never heard 

[67] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Witherspoon 

liim utter one sentiment or one word that could not with 
propriety' be uttered in the presence of a lady. He was 
a clean and pure man. He never had a low thought or a 
little sentiment; all of his thoughts and all of his senti- 
ments were big and high and ennobling. He was a Chris- 
tian gentleman, clean in word, in thought, in conduct. 
Some of us will live a long time, and some of you will be 
Members of the House many years, but it will be a long 
time before you will see again in this House or elsewhere 
his like. He was a typical man, a typical Representa- 
tive, of character, of integrity, of courage, of sincerity, 
of ability, of patriotism. He possessed every virtue of a 
well-rounded gentleman, Christian, and statesman. 

My friends, it has been a real, genuine pleasure to speak 
these simple words of tribute to a man whose friendship, 
confidence, and esteem I shall always be happy to know 
1 possessed. Hail, once more, Sam Witherspoon, my 
friend, good and true, loved and admired, and farewell 
forever till we meet again on the farther shore. 



[68] 



Address of Mr. Stephens, of Mississippi 

Mr. Speaker: My acquaintance with Mr. Witherspoon 
was limited to his term of service in the House. Each of 
us came to this city as a new Member of Congress at tlie 
beginning of the Sixty-second Congress. Coming from 
the same State, it was but natural that we should soon 
meet. We became friends and spent much time together. 
I learned to admire, respect, and love him. 

I shall speak briefly of those things in his life and 
character that inspired the sentiments to which reference 
has just been made. 

Samuel Andrew Witherspoon was truly a great man, 
a rare man — rare in intellect, in courage, in nobleness and 
strength of character. 

His was a giant intellect. A student all his life, his 
mind was trained and stored with information on many 
subjects. Indeed, the fullness and maturity of his intel- 
lectual powers were the admiration of all who knew him. 

Having the faculty of graphic clearness and strength 
of statement, having a power of analysis and logical force 
rarely found, and being able to center all his forces upon 
the question at issue, he was a power in any cause that 
he championed. These things, together with a sincere 
earnestness, made him an interesting and entertaining 
speakei-, whether one agreed with him or not. His powers 
of logical analysis were so great that if his premises were 
admitted his conclusions were well-nigh irresistible. 

Although he was not much given to speaking here — I 
think he made only about a half dozen speeches on this 
flooi' — he was recognized as one of the strongest men in 
this body. He was always listened to with great interest, 
for ever>-one knew that he never spoke unless he had 
something to say that was worth the saying. 

[69] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Witherspoon 

I shall not dwell longer upon this phase, because indis- 
putable proof of his intellectuality are written on the 
pages of the law books of his State, where he practiced 
law for many years; and in the records of Congress, in 
speeches, in reports prepared in the course of his com- 
mittee work, and in the examination of witnesses before 
the Naval Affairs Committee, where he displayed a most 
wonderful grasp of the details of all matters relating to 
the Navy. Then, there are other elements in his character 
that are higher, nobler, and more important than mere 
intellect. 

A great intellect is a priceless possession; the ability to 
clothe thoughts in burning words, winged as it were with 
lightning, is worthy of admiration; but these things are 
of little real worth unless the man possessing them have 
a soul which loves truth and accepts it. 

I never knew a man who adhered more closely to a 
high standard. He loved Goodness because it was good 
and Truth because it was lovely. To everj- question he 
applied the straightedge of Truth, of Righteousness, of 
Justice. 

His conduct was always actuated by the loftiest motives. 
The love of duty was stamped upon his soul as an eternal 
truth. He may have believed in the old maxim that 
"Honestj' is the best policy"; but thjs was not what 
caused him to be honest. He was so from principle and 
habit. 

With a soul enkindled with enthusiasm for what is 
good and noble, a mind aglow with truth, a heart filled 
with love for mankind, an eye that shone bright with 
honor, a look that bespoke freedom, manliness, and 
veracity, and a bearing that declared him brave, frank, 
generous, and true, anyone who saw him could tell that 
he was a man. Everj'one was impressed that, though he 



[70] 



Address of Mr. Stephens, of Mississippi 



might make mistakes through error of judgment, it was 
absolutely impossible for him to be mean or little. 

Although he differed, violently at times, from many of 
his associates, yet his sincerity was never questioned, but 
all admired his candor and courage of conviction. 

If he had lived in the days of the Knights of the Round 
Table, he could have subscribed to the oath that Tenny- 
son represents them as taking: 

To reverence their conscience as their king. 
To break the heathen and uphold the Christ, 
To ride abroad redressing human wrongs, 
To speak no slander, no, nor listen to it; 
To honor his own words as if his God's, 
To lead sweet lives in purest chastity; 
To love one maiden only, cleave to her; 
To worship her by years of noble deeds. 
Not only to keep down the base in man. 
But teach high thought and amiable words 
And courtliness and the desire of fame 
And love of truth and all that makes a man. 

He had caught the vision of true greatness — that it lies 
in nobility of mind and goodness of heart, as well as in 
illustrious deeds. Greatness without goodness is a myth. 
Position, place, power, all dwindle into insignificance 
when compared with the emotions of a heart filled with 
love of justice, mercy, and truth. Back of everything 
great must be a heart, a conscience, a conviction. 

If a Christian is one who is restoring God's likeness to 
his character, our friend was one. No dishonorable act 
detracts from his fame; his hands were clean and his in- 
tegrity incorruptible. 

It was the dying boast of Pericles that he never made 
an Athenian weep. It should be a matter of pride to his 
family that no friend of Mr. Witherspoon ever blushed 
or hung his head in shame because of an ignoble word or 
deed of his; that no one can be found to reproach him for 

[71] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Witherspoon 

ingratitude or who can say that he ever failed to discharge 
in full measure any obligation. 

He locked his lips too close to speak a He; 

He washed his hands too white to touch a bribe. 

One thing that impressed me as much as anything in 
his character was his love for humanity. His great heart 
went out to the poor, crushed to earth by privation and 
sorrow. The tides of love for his fellow man ran with 
mighty pulsations through his soul. 

The greatest ambition of his life — and no man can have 
a nobler ambition — was to be of real service to mankind, 
and he was never passive or indifferent when some legis- 
lative wrong was about to be committed, as he believed, 
against the interests of the people. 

His was a genuine affection for the common people; 
and he was always ready to aid them in the passage of 
legislation which their conditions demanded. Although 
thus active in their interest, no one ever heard him utter 
a word of flattery or ever knew liim to do any act that 
in the remotest degree approached the appeal or the 
conduct of a demagogue. 

Frequently we hear men declaim in eloquent words 
about the rights of the people and their great love and 
affection for them, and we doubt their sincerity. But 
when Mr. Witherspoon spoke in the interest of the masses, 
no one doubted him. 1 have talked with him frequently 
in the privacy of his ofTice about matters of legislation and 
its effect upon the people of the Nation; and when he 
would remark upon the condition of those who did not 
have even the necessities of life, I have seen his eyes fill 
with tears and his voice choke with emotion. Many men 
may have accomplished more to relieve the poor, the dis- 
tressed, the down-trodden, the heavy-burdened of earth, 
but no man ever possessed greater sympathy for such. 



[72] 



Address of Mr. Stephens, of Mississippi 

Although it does not relate exactly to the subject that 
I have just been discussing, I shall refer to an incident 
that came under my observation. Mr. Witherspoon had 
defeated Hon. Adam Byrd, who had been a Member of 
Congress for several years. They had engaged in a heated 
campaign into which the bitterness of factional and par- 
tisan politics had entered. Two years later Mr. Byrd 
announced as a candidate against him. 

One day, a few months prior to the election, Mr. 
Witherspoon came into my office with a telegram in his 
hand. I noticed that he was very much distressed. Com- 
ing up to me, he said " I have just received bad news." 
I asked him to tell me about it. Hesitating a moment 
because of emotion, he then said, while tears were flowing 
from his eyes, " Poor Adam Byrd is dead." 

Reference has been made to this as illustrative of the 
great, tender heart that throbbed in his bosom. Ready 
a few minutes before to go out and do battle with his 
political enemy with all the vigor that he possessed, now 
that he was still in death the strong man was overcome 
and any feeling that he might have had against Mr. Byrd 
was instantly forgotten, and such a feeling of sympathy 
and sorrow swept over him that it caused him to weep. 
To me it was the strongest evidence of a kind, sympa- 
thetic, and great heart. 

Mr. Speaker, the philosophy of life entertained by him 
has been splendidly expressed by one who said : " The end 
of all worthy struggle is to establish morality as the basis 
of individual and national life, to make righteousness 
prevail, to make justice reign, to spread beauty, gentle- 
ness, wisdom, and peace, to widen opportunity, to in- 
crease good will, to move in the light of higher thoughts 
and larger hopes, to encourage science and art, to foster 
industry and thrift, education and culture, reverence and 
obedience, purity and love, honesty, sobriety, and dis- 

[73] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Witherspoon 



interested devotion to tlie common good — this is the 
patriot's aim, this his ideal." 

He was intensely patriotic. A Democrat believing in 
the great fundamental principles of Thomas Jefferson, 
he struggled all his life for their exemplification, believ- 
ing that only in the working out of those great principles 
could our Nation measure up to its highest destiny and 
the people receive the highest good. 

If he failed to keep step with many of the so-called 
progressive movements of the day, if he refused to align 
himself with the political fads and " isms " that seem to 
be the order of the day, it was not from any lack of 
patriotism. It was because he believed in the Constitu- 
tion and was convinced that if the principles of Democ- 
racy as set out by Jefferson, which he had taken as the 
rule and guide of his political faith, were put into prac- 
tical operation and effect, within the limits of the Consti- 
tution, that was all that the functions of government 
could do to make a people happy, contented, and pros- 
perous. 

He was jealous of any encroachment of rights under the 
Constitution, and especially in regard to the powers of 
the States. The doctrine of " State rights " was sacred. 
He believed that under the Constitution this is a union 
of sovereign, indestructible States, with the right in each 
to control all domestic questions and conditions, such as 
labor, education, domestic relations, preservation of 
order, good morals, encouragement of industry, and the 
protection of people in the pursuit of happiness and the 
enjoyment of life, liberty, and property; and that the 
only dut}' of the Federal Government was, under a strict 
construction of its delegated functions, to perpetuate an 
indissoluble union for the general good. 

A tribute to the memory of Mr. Witherspoon would be 
wholly incomplete unless reference was made to one of 

[74] 



Address of Mr. Stephens, of Mississippi 

his most striking characteristics, his courage. I do not 
refer to physical courage, although he had an abundance 
of it. However much we may admire physical courage, 
it is not comparable to moral courage. Men may fight 
for various reasons, out of pride, out of necessity, out of 
meanness of spirit. Moral courage is that boldness to do 
right, to do that which ought to be done, without any 
regard to the effect upon one's self. 

He possessed courage of conviction in the highest de- 
gree. I never knew a man who was so willing to sacrifice 
himself for his convictions. It has been said that " God 
hates a coward." If this be true, then He must have 
loved S. A. WiTHERSPOON with an overwhelming love, for 
a more courageous man never lived. His courage was of 
the kind that caused the martyrs of old to suffer death 
for their convictions. 

Love of power and position is a controlling force with 
many. It was not so with him. He would have sur- 
rendered his office in a moment rather than vote for any 
measure that he did not believe to be right. He loved his 
party, but he did not worship it to the extent that he was 
willing to follow it whether it was right or wrong. 

He was not a good partj' man in the sense that he was 
willing to follow the dictates of so-called party leaders. 
He reserved the right to think for himself. Loving his 
party as he did, he believed that it was an agency through 
which just laws could be enacted and governmental aflairs 
administered for the common good; but when, in his judg- 
ment, it failed to serve this purpose he never failed to 
decline to follow its behests. 

After earnest, thoughtful consideration of a question he 
would make up his mind, and he always exercised his 
judgment, never yielding to the command of a caucus, 
or any other authority. By many this was considered a 
fault; but calm, cool, reflection will lead us to the conclu- 

[75] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Witherspoon 

sion that independence of thought and courage of convic- 
tion are virtues to be admired, if not always commended. 
Andrew Jackson once said : 

I would not dance before the Throne of Power for the Throne 
itself. 

This was the spirit of our lamented friend. The waters 
of political oblivion might have been surging around him 
and tlireatening to overwhelm and engulf him as the 
waters of the Red Sea the Egyptians, and he would have 
voted his convictions without any regard to those condi- 
tions. An effort by any man to change the revolutions 
of the sun would be no more futile than an effort to cause 
him to act contrary to his convictions. Mr. Speaker, I 
loved him for his magnificent courage. 

In all my acquaintance with him I never detected but 
one defect in his character. He was impatient of contra- 
diction and sometimes spoke too harshly. This was not 
due to egotism, stubbornness, or a desire to offend; but 
was due simply to a quick temper, a strong will, and the 
fact that his own opinions were so thoroughly fixed and, 
to him, were so clear and apparent that he had no doubt 
as to their correctness; and he simply failed to make 
proper allowance for the opinions of others. Everyone 
knew his gentlemanly and generous impulses. Therefore 
no one took offense at his outbursts of temper, as they 
knew that no offense was intended. His fault was single, 
his virtues many, so the fault was easily excused. 

Mr. Speaker, it will always be a matter of pleasure to 
me that I had the opportunity to become so intimately 
acquainted with such a man. One whose passion was 
the love of his fellow men, whose eloquence was the 
inspiration of justice, whose hope was human freedom, 
and whose logic fixed its steady gaze upon the star of 
truth; one who did right with compelling insistence and 



[76] 



Address of Mr. Stephens, of Mississippi 

who was not afraid tliat he might do wrong — a malady 
none too seldom found among those who are not sure of 
their approaches, who distrust themselves and stand with 
reluctant feet, holding action in subjection, on the very 
threshold of duty; one who, amid all the trials and tribu- 
lations, the vexations and vanities of a long life, 

Had kept 
The whiteness of his soul. 



[77] 



Address of Mr. Harrison, of Mississippi 

Mr. Speaker : There are occasions in human experience 
when the heart so overflows with sadness that it is diffi- 
cult to find or employ proper expression to convej' our 
feelings or thoughts. 1 have listened with interest and 
pride to the splendid eulogies so eloquently delivered in 
this Chamber to-day. I rise now with embarrassment, 
cognizant of my inability to render appropriate eulogium 
upon the life and character of our departed colleague 
and the friend to whom we all were so devotedly attached. 

When the news of his death flashed over the Nation 
I happened to be in the city of New Orleans, and it came 
to me so suddenlj' that I was inexpressibly shocked and 
could not believe it true. Sam Witherspoon dead ! Taken 
from us just when opportunity for a larger usefulness 
than he had previously enjoyed opened with such assured 
promise before him — the opportunity which he had so in- 
dustriously and painstakingly prepared himself for. His 
splendid talents were not long employed in the public 
service, and yet in so short a time as a representative of 
his people in this body he had impressed his character and 
ability not alone upon his colleagues here, but upon the 
people throughout the Nation. 

His greatest reputation in this House was made in con- 
nection with his work on the Naval Affairs Committee. 
Like all subjects that engaged his attention, he recog- 
nized no bounds within which to confine his investiga- 
tions; he knew no limit within which his labors might 
be restricted. I never knew anyone who loved work 
more and obtained greater satisfaction and pleasure out 
of it than did our departed colleague. The predominating 
qualities of the man were unsurpassed analytical powers, 

[78] 



Address of Mr. Harrison, of Mississippi 



unyielding courage, and untiring industiy. He never 
spoke on any question unless his heart was in it and until 
he had thoroughly prepared himself. And with his splen- 
did intellect, sincerity of purpose, and thoroughness of 
preparation he naturally forged himself to the front as 
one of the really great men in this House. 

As a speaker his manner was pleasing, his voice was 
musical, and as a debater on the floor of this House or 
before courts or juries or on the hustings in his native 
State, by the force of his marshaled facts and thi-ough 
his matchless, persuasive eloquence, reenforced by the 
strength of his irresistible logic, he swayed his hearers, 
inspiring confidence in those who agreed with him and 
silencing those who opposed him. 

But his reputation in this House is not builded alone 
upon his speech relating to the Navy, for no greater 
ovation was ever tendered any Member on this floor than 
the one accorded him at the close of his speech champion- 
ing the appropriation for the preservation of the torn 
and tattered flags of the Revolution. That speech was 
delivered at a most opportune time. Scintillating with 
pathos and patriotism, it aroused the membership of this 
House to the highest degree of enthusiasm and created 
a sentiment on this floor that found its fruition in the 
passage of the appropriation measure practically unani- 
mously. I shall never forget the scene. He followed a 
gentleman from the South who opposed the appropria- 
tion, and with all the feeling that it is possible for a man 
to arouse in himself he played upon the hearts of his 
colleagues; and with burning words of eloquence he held 
them enthralled, and the whole House was lost in the 
seductive influence of his overpowering personality. As 
he pictured the old flag as only he could picture it, I saw 
old men and young men on both sides of that aisle lose 
themselves in the bewitching charm of his eloquence and 



[79] 



Memorial Addresses : Representative Witherspoon 



sob the smothered sob of suppressed joy and shed tears 
of patriotic elation. 

By his charming personality he made friends and held 
them. Few men in this House were more popular with 
his colleagues than was Mr. Witherspoon. His disposi- 
tion was kindly, his manner most channing. He was 
independent in thought, expression, and action. He took 
counsel with his own conscience, and when he had once 
formed an opinion it was as immovable as the Rock of 
Gibraltar. The only fault that it was possible to find 
with him, if that can be a fault, was that his convictions 
were so strong and he was so confident of the correctness 
of his position that in argument the combative instincts 
of his strong personality exerted themselves to such a 
degree that sometimes he manifested a touch of impa- 
tience and intolerance at the slightest opposition to his 
views. So strongly did he believe in his opinions he could 
not understand how any intellect less powerful than his 
could arrive at other conclusions. Yet, with this apparent 
defect of his splendid character, those of us who knew 
him recognized this only as an evidence of the sincerity 
of his thought and the strength of his position. 

As he rose high in the estimation of his colleagues in 
this body, so did he rise high at the bar of his State. He 
was classed, and rightly so, as one of the best lawyers in 
Mississippi. His practice was large and varied. He 
specialized in no branch of the law. It was my good for- 
tune to have known Mr. Witherspoon a number of years 
before he came to Congress. I first met him in the court 
room in the trial of an important criminal case. I met 
him afterwards in other cases, and I have never seen a 
lawyer who was more at home in the court room and who 
took care of the interests of his clients with greater ability 
and more fidelity than he. 



[801 



I 



AODHESS OF Mh. HaHIUSOX, OF MISSISSIPPI 

As a citizen his time and talents were ever used in tlie 
upbuilding of his section and State and the uplift and 
betterment of society. He was modest to a fault, and, like 
the violet that grows in the lonelj' valley unseen by the 
haughty eye, shedding its perfume on the desert air, he 
lived a life of goodness and kindness, without bigotry 
and without ostentation. 

Mr. Speaker, a nobler man never lived. Hospitable, 
gentle, and lovable, a gentleman of honor, in manners, 
and in innate refinement, he was everjthing that a man 
could be to be respected and loved. He revered the teach- 
ings and traditions of our fathers. He measured his 
actions by the organic law of this land, and the plain 
people of the Nation lost a consistent and ardent cham- 
pion when he died. In his family relations he was a most 
devoted husband and loving father, whose constant de- 
light was to do some act that would bring pleasure to his 
wife or his children. He loved children, and how elo- 
quent have I seen him grow as he related to me some 
incident or some " tale unfold " about his little grand- 
child. His death was a distinct loss not only to his State 
but to the Nation, and while to-day we are bowed in sad- 
ness, we can console ourselves with the thought that by 
his illustrious career, his incomparable honesty, and his 
stainless honor, he has left a heritage more enduring and 
more to be treasured than all the riches of the world. 

It is not gold, but only men 

Can make a people great and strong, 
Men who for truth and honor's sake 

Stand fast and suffer long. 
Brave men who work while others sleep. 

Who dare while others fly. 
These build a nation's pillars deep 

And lift them to the sky. 

Such a man was Sam Witherspoon, and of such is the 
Kingdom of Heaven.' 

37673°— 17 6 [81] 



Address of Mr. Sisson, of Mississippi 

Mr. Speaker : In listening to the tributes that have been 
paid to the memory of my good friend we are struck with 
this great and convincing fact, that we are all agreed; 
there is no discordant note; we all have the same opinion 
of the man. In discussing the character of any other 
man we would, as a rule, find a variety of opinions as 
to the chief characteristic and as to the particular qual- 
ity of the man that commended him, but in ever>' word 
that has been spoken about " Sam " Witherspoon there is 
absolute harmony. Not a man has spoken upon this occa- 
sion but that he has said that " Sam " Witherspoon was a 
man of courage, honesty, and integrity. And, above all, 
not an expression has fallen from the lips of any man 
who has discussed Mr. Witherspoon's character but that 
it resolved itself into this: There was not enough shadow 
in his soul to hide a single sinister thought. When he 
spoke he spoke his honest conviction, and ever>' man that 
heard him knew that he was speaking his conviction. 

He was a man of courage, without being cruel. 

He was a man of honesty, without effort to display it. 

He was a man of the strongest affections, but never 
ostentatious in displaying them. 

He loved his people and delighted to serve them, but 
never bent his convictions to win their applause. 

He loved principle, but respected the convictiorfs of 
others. 

He despised sham and hypocrisy and never forgave it 
in others. 

He never bent his knee to power and had a contempt for 
all who did. 

[82] 



Address of Mh. Sisson, of Mississippi 

And he never in any moment of his life hesitated to 
follow his own honest convictions, whatever the result 
to him personally. 

I have never known a man who considered himself so 
slightly as to his future profit and loss, either political 
or financial, when it came to taking a position which he 
thought was right. 

It pained him to differ with his colleagues here, but it 
never deterred him from the performance of duty as he 
saw it. If every Member of Congress had the courage 
and conviction of " Sam " Witherspoon, this body would 
be elevated in the minds and hearts of the American 
people, and once again become a virile force in this 
Government and in the enforcement of its views upon 
legislation. 

" Sam " Witherspoon never bent the pregnant hinges of 
his knee that either political or financial thrift might fol- 
low fawning. How many men yield their convictions, not 
only upon mere policy, but how many yield their convic- 
tions on great questions to the dictations of others in high 
place! But no living man can say that Samuel Andrew 
Witherspoon ever yielded a conviction to any man. He 
was made out of that iron stuff that makes the great 
mountain peaks in the range of the human race; that 
causes people to look back upon the mighty form and 
know that there was indeed a man. When you begin to 
enumerate tlie really great men that have lived on the 
earth, you find the number small, yea, very small. 

Men to be leaders must be men who can differ coura- 
geously and persistently on a question of principle with 
the frowning multitude. 

If Martin Luther had not been a man possessed of 
enormous courage and conviction, he could never have 
been the great mover of the Reformation. If John Calvin 
had not been himself a man of mighty convictions, as 



[83] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Withekspoon 

well as mighty intellect, he could never have been the 
founder of a great religious faith. If Washington and 
Jefferson and the great men of America had not been 
men of great conviction, this Republic could never have 
been established. To preserve their work is our task. 
Witherspoon realized this and was devoted to the Con- 
stitution, and however popular a measure, he voted 
against it if he did not believe it was constitutional. 

Men like Sam Witherspoon make justice, truth, and 
honesty prevail in politics, in religion, and in social life. 

I would rather have the tributes paid to my memory 
when I shall depart this life that have been paid to Sam 
Witherspoon to-day than to have all the wealth of the 
world. It is such characters as this that make the world 
worth living in, that make for progress and advancement, 
because so often the great, in the minds of the present 
generation, are nothing more nor less than intellects 
capable of catching the jjopular will and fancy at the 
time — mere drifters with the tide. Such men are for- 
gotten ere they pass away. It is easy for men to do this, 
but it is hard to go against the mighty current; and it is 
a man like Witherspoon who, when the current is in the 
face, is willing to stem the tide, and when the flood strikes 
is like a mighty rock in the way of a raging torrent. He 
made of himself an impediment, and upon that impedi- 
ment other less important materials collected and hung 
about the mighty form until there gathered enough ob- 
struction to stay the current. 

Mr. Witherspoon in religion was a Presbyterian. He 
came from a stock of Presbyterians. He traced his an- 
cestry in America back beyond the Revolution. His kins- 
man. Dr. Witherspoon, a Presbyterian minister, was a 
signer of the Declaration of Independence, and a careful 
study of the life of Dr. Witherspoon and of the subject 
of these memorial exercises shows a wonderful similarity. 



[84] 



Address of Mr. Sisson, of Mississippi 

I have known many Witherspoons. I have known his 
close and distant relatives, and I have never known a 
Witherspoon that did not possess to some degree some of 
the qualities possessed by Sam Witherspoon. His family 
has been one of the most prominent in the history of 
American politics, and it has been a family that has al- 
ways been on the side of religious and political liberty. 
The sweetest trait of the Witherspoon family is that they 
never for one moment in politics forget that (.overnment 
is established for people and not for the favored few. 
They all believe in the so-called plain people and have 
always been their champions. So it was natural for our 
friend to stand for the rights of the poor and the down- 
trodden. He loved the man that toiled; he loved the man 
who with sun-browned hand produced the wealth of the 
world, and he believed in his soul that if you gave to him 
absolute and equal rights the Republic would be safe, but 
he believed also that the Republic is dead, destroyed, if 
men of influence, of capacity, could get control of the 
powers of government and use these powers to their 
private advantage and to the disadvantage of the great 
mass. Oh, that all of us could imitate him in our love for 
the plain people of the world, and become such a cham- 
pion of liberty as was Sam Witherspoon. Like the pebble 
that falls from the mountain side, while he lived we may 
not realize his greatness, but after he is gone the pebble 
of influence starts down the mountain side, it continues 
to collect the snow and debris, and before it gets down to 
the foot of the mountain it is a mighty avalanche. Who 
knows to-day but that the influence of Sam Witherspoon 
may become one of the potent factors in American life, 
and that his efforts— while they seemingly failed here— to 
have the people restored to the rights that they ought to 
have under this great and glorious Republic will at some 
distant day be realized? 



[85] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Witherspoon 

When the Master lost his life at the hands of the Jewish 
mob, was there then a politician, a general, a statesman, 
or an emperor who believed that His simple life would 
have such an influence upon the world; that all the Gov- 
ernments that to-day make up the great civilization of 
Europe and America would have as the basis of their 
laws, their philosophy, and religion that which was taught 
by the simple Nazarene? And, as Mr. Witherspoon en- 
deavored to make his life as nearly as possible like that 
of his Master, so is he loved and revered and honored, and 
will be when the sun shall grow dim with age, when the 
firmament shall be rolled up as a scroll, when time shall 
cease and eternity roll. Sam Witherspoon's memory and 
influence will live on in immortal youth, and his influence 
will touch the farthest shores of the most distant eternity. 
When men shall imitate his honesty of purpose in state- 
craft, we will be able to erect here on this American soil 
a magnificent temple of liberty in which will dwell forever 
peaces love, unity, and happiness. Mankind will then rise 
up and call us blessed, that through this influence men 
might become great, happy, strong, prosperous, and good. 



[86] 



Address of Mr. Quin, of Mississippi 

Mr. Speaker : Our deceased colleague, Mr. Witherspoon, 
was almost a father to me. When I came to Washington, 
about the 20th of February, 1913, he and my friend Sisson, 
the gentleman who last addressed you, took me under 
their wings. All my other colleagues from Mississippi 
were kind to me, but these two Members made me feel 
at home. I had no office until late in March, and Mr. 
Witherspoon and Mr. Sisson gave me the privileges of 
their offices and the use of their secretaries. I had an 
office assigned me next to Mr. Witherspoon's. We 
boarded at the same hotel until October of that year. 
After I brought my wife to the city of Washington he 
was a constant visitor at my home; a welcome always 
awaited him there. He dined with us many Sundays and 
evenings in the week. I learned to love the man. 1 real- 
ized that he was a real friend and a champion of the plain 
people of this Republic. 

The last time I ever saw him was at the State fair at 
Jackson, Miss., on the 26th day of last October. We went 
through the fair and looked at all the farm exhibits. He 
had dinner with me on the grounds that day. He dis- 
cussed the fact that while the farmers were producing 
all of those splendid products from mother earth they 
were being robbed bj' the special interests and through 
different forms of taxation. The man out on the hillside 
with a small farm and a little box house was always first 
in the thoughts of Mr. Witherspoon. The poor, the 
wealth-producing masses of this Republic, had a stanch 
champion in the distinguished gentleman from the fifth 
district of Mississippi, and when I was called as one of 
his colleagues to be at that sad funeral late in November 

[87] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Witherspoon 

of last year I could not help weeping like a woman when 
I saw his bier in front of me. And I feel that same heavy 
heart here to-day, because I know that in the loss of 
Samuel A. Witherspoon the plain people of this Republic, 
of his district, and of his State have lost a good man, a 
great champion, a strong gladiator who always fought in 
their behalf. Christianity has lost a potential exponent, 
the world has lost a great statesman, a profound thinker, 
a philosopher, and a true patriot. 

Samuel A. Witherspoon is not dead; he has simply 
gone to meet his God. His influence will live for centuries 
in this Republic; yes, sp long as the United States Govern- 
ment shall stand. Who is he who will read the Congres- 
sional Record who can fail to be impressed with the great 
patriotic utterances of Sam Witherspoon? To-day his 
work in the Committee on Naval Affairs is ringing around 
the entire world. Every newspaper that discusses the 
subject at all refers to Samuel A. Witherspoon. He 
proved as a member of that committee as conclusively as 
any mathematician ever proved a problem in mathe- 
matics that we have the second navy in the world. No 
man who studies the subject and who will accept Samuel 
Witherspoon's questions to the experts before that com- 
mittee at the last session of Congress can fail to reach 
the same conclusion that Samuel Witherspoon reached, 
and his great speech on the floor of this House, demon- 
strating his understanding on that proposition, will live 
as a classic and will be read a hundred years from now. 
In him Mississippi and the Nation had a champion. In 
Mr. Witherspoon the producing masses of America had a 
stanch champion whose place is hard to fill. Whether 
one agreed with the man or not, all loved him and ad- 
mired him. Sam Witherspoon stood out as a strong, 
singular character. Every man has his fault, but for one, 
I never saw any faults, because 1 loved the man. Often- 



[88] 



Address of Mr. Quin, of Mississippi 



times he would say to nic, " Percy, excuse me," and he 
would not let me interrupt him in his process of reasoning. 
I sometimes thought 1 could reach a conclusion or inter- 
ject something in his argument, hut he would always say, 
" Excuse me." 1 sat still and listened and 1 always knew 
more at the end of his conversation than I did when he 
started. He had the most analytical mind I ever listened 
to or read after. In my judgment he was the greatest 
reasoner who ever stood on the lloor of this House since 
I have been here. Mr. Witherspoon did not make many 
speeches on this floor, but he made them in the Demo- 
cratic caucuses and in his office; he made them in the 
cloakroom, and what democracy there is in this House 
to-day is bound to have a real veneration and admiration 
for the memory and teachings of our departed colleague. 
Men from every State in this Union so soon as I returned 
to Washington a few days before Congress assembled 
expressed their deep regret and sorrow at the death of 
Mr. Witherspoon. Irrespective of party. Republicans who 
fought every inch of the ground on which Mr. Wither- 
spoon stood absolutely admired and loved the man. They 
knew his character; they knew that he stood out a giant 
oak almost alone in his position. I could not follow Mr. 
Witherspoon's reasoning on all of these great questions, 
but there never was a question that came before this 
House that I did not go into his office and argue it out 
with him. The important ship-purchase bill, which was 
before the Senate for weeks before it came over to the 
House, Mr. Witherspoon and 1 discussed in his office and 
in my office and in the little car when 1 would cany him 
out to my house, and there in my home, in the presence 
of my wife, we would argue. It was the same way on 
every deep question confronting the American people, 
and when if came for him to vote he voted his conscien- 
tious convictions, regardless of party whip, regardless of 



[89] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Witherspoon 



the effect of his vote so f'ar as his popularity might be 
concerned in his district or in the State or in the Nation; 
he voted his honest convictions and voted, as he under- 
stood it, for the best interests of the American people. 

He had a horror of the special-privilege legislation that 
had been in vogue in this Republic. He wanted to see 
all the American people put upon the same footing. He 
wanted equal justice to the poor, the rich, the high, and 
the low alike. A natural-born aristocrat, adorned with 
culture and refinement and deep learning, yet he was an 
absolute democrat in his manner, modes of life, conduct, 
and thought. No man had a deeper feeling for the toiling 
masses of this Republic than did Mr. Witherspoon. 

And I for one know that my State, the State of Missis- 
sippi, has lost a great man, a great statesman, a philoso- 
pher, a Christian gentleman. I know that he is a loss to 
this body, and a loss to the American people. 



[90] 



Address of Mr. Buchanan, of Illinois 

Mr. Speaker: The cold, grim hand of death struck this 
House and the people of our country a serious blow when 
my colleague and friend, Samuel A. Witherspoon, was 
suddenly taken from our midst, just as we were about to 
begin a new and what no doubt will be a memorable 
Congress. After the eloquent eulogies that have been 
paid to the memorj' of Mr. Witherspoon, it is not for me 
to add anything to what has already been well said. My 
only desire is very plainly and in simple words to pay 
some tribute to the memory of a personal friend, a 
patriotic citizen, and an able and upright public official. 

My acquaintance with Mr. Witherspoon dated only 
from my entrance into this House in the Sixty-second 
Congress, yet in that time I learned to love him for his 
gracious manner and kindly spirit, and admire him for 
his firm adherence to those principles of Democracy that 
were nearest his heart. Being associated with him as a 
member of the Naval Affairs Committee, and sharing 
with him many principles and ideals, it was often my 
privilege to work side by side with him in the business 
of this House. His impulses were always generous, his 
sympathy broad, and his intellect keen. He was a zealous 
and untiring worker, oft working far into the night on 
questions which he deemed of vital interest to the people 
of our country. 

Mr. Speaker, our departed friend gave his best to the 
service of the people. Who can do more? The State of 
Mississippi has given many of her sons to the service of the 
Nation, but none more able, none more sincere, none more 
courageous than Samuel A. Witherspoon. I share keenly 
and deeply in the general grief caused by the premature 

[91] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Witherspoon 

closing of a career which only a short time before was so 
rich in achievement and so full of promise for the future. 
However, in our grief there is gratification in the knowl- 
edge that he contributed his full share in the furtherance 
of that principle of humanity proclaimed by the Founder 
of Christianity, who said that " He came that the children 
of earth might have a more abundant life"; and we can 
feel that if we respond to the call of duty as he did, when 
the end comes there will be little to regret. That our 
Creator may comfort and protect his loved ones is my 
sincere wish. 

EXTENSION OF REMARKS 

Mr. Venable. Mr. Speaker, 1 ask unanimous consent 
that any Member of the House who wishes to do so may 
be given the privilege of printing his remarks in tlie 
Record on the life, character, and work of the late Mr. 
Witherspoon, and also that any Member who has spoken 
shall have the privilege of extending his remarks in the 
Record. 

The Speaker pro tempore. The question is on the motion 
of the gentleman from Mississippi [Mr. Venable]. 

The motion was agreed to. 

adjournment 

And then, in accordance with the resolution previously 
agreed to, the House (at 2 o'clock and 58 minutes p. m.) 
adjourned until Monday, March 6, 1916, at 12 o'clock noon. 



[92] 



, Proceedings in the Senate 

Tuesday, March 7, 1916. 

A message from the House of Representatives, by 
J. C. South, its Chief Clerk, transmitted resolutions of the 
House on the death of Hon. S. A. Witherspoon, late a 
Representative from the State of Mississippi. 

Mr. Vardam.\n. Mr. President, I desire to give notice 
that on Saturday, the 25th instant, at the conclusion of 
the routine morning business, I shall ask the Senate to 
suspend its business that fitting tribute may be paid to 
the life and public services of the Hon. Samuel A. Wither- 
spoon, late a Representative from the State of Mississippi. 

Saturday, March 25, 1916. 

Mr. Vardaman. Mr. President, I ask that the resolutions 
of the House on the death of Hon. Samuel A. Wither- 
spoon, late a Representative from the State of Mississippi, 
may be laid before the Senate. 

The Presiding Officer (Mr. Husting in the chair). The 
Chair lays before the Senate resolutions from the House, 
which will be read. 

The Secretary read the resolutions, as follows: 

In the House of Representatives 

OF the United States, 

March 5, 1916. 
Resolved, That the business of the House be now suspended, 
that opportunity may be given for tributes to the memory of 
Hon. Samuel A. Witherspoon, late a Member of this House from 
the State of Mississippi. 

Resolved, That as a particular mark of respect to the memory 
of the deceased and in recognition of his distinguished public 
career, the House, at the conclusion of these exercises, shall stand 
adjourned. 

[93] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Witherspoon 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the 
Senate. 

Resolved, That the Clerk send a copy of these resolutions to the 
family of the deceased. 

Mr. Vardaman. Mr. President, I offer the following reso- 
lutions, and ask for their adoption. 

The resolutions were read, considered by unanimous 
consent, and unanimously agreed to, as follows : 

Resolved, That the Senate has heard with profound sorrow of 
the death of the Hon. Samuel A. Witherspoon, late a Member of 
the House of Representatives from the State of Mississippi. 

Resolved, That as a mark of respect to the memory of the de- 
ceased the business of the Senate be now suspended, in order 
that the Senate may pay proper tribute to his high character and 
distinguished public services. 

Resolved, That the Secretary communicate a copy of these 
resolutions to the House of Representatives and transmit a copy 
thereof to the family of the deceased. 



i 



[94] 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 



Address of Mr. Vardaman, of Mississippi 

Mr. President: The Senate of the United States has set 
apart this hour to pay fitting tribute to the life, character, 
and achievements of one of the most excellent men and 
useful statesmen who have occupied seats in the lower 
House of Congress since the formation of this Republic. 
In the sublimity of his character he is spcndidly unique. 

Samuel Andrew Witherspoon, son of Dr. Elias Bourde- 
not Witherspoon and Mrs. Elizabeth Dowd Witherspoon, 
was born in Lowndes County, Miss., near the city of Co- 
lumbus, May 4, 1855, and died at his home in Meridian 
on Wednesday, November 24, 1915. In his early youth 
he attended the common schools in the neighborhood in 
which he lived. His father died when he was quite young; 
after which his mother, who was in rather impecunious 
circumstances, in order that she might afford her chil- 
dren educational opportunities, with Sam and two younger 
brothers moved to Oxford, Miss., in 1872. Young Wither- 
spoon entered the University of Mississippi as a student 
in the preparatory department in October, 1872, and was 
graduated with honors from that institution in June, 1876. 
After liis graduation he was for a while assistant professor 
of Latin in the University of Mississippi, during which 
time he prosecuted his study of the law. In 1879 he moved 
to Meridian, Miss., where he resided until his death. By 
close application and intense intellectual eflfort he ad- 
vanced rapidly in his profession and became one of the 
most accomplished lawyers at the bar of Mississippi. But 
the study of English and American law did not affect his 
mind as is sometimes the case with men who attain great 

[95] 



Memorial Addresses : Representative Witherspoon 

prominence in that profession. He was never a slave to 
precedent, but his mind preserved its native originality, 
and the elasticity of his reasoning faculties was not 
hindered or handicapped by what somebody else may 
have said, however great its antiquity. 

With a delicate sense of justice and the power to make 
accurate discriminations, he approached everj' subject, 
and through all of his mental processes the end invari- 
ably sought was the truth. His mind never moved in 
a groove, but rather in the broad field of uncircumscribed 
research. 

In 1910 he was elected from the fifth congressional 
district of Mississippi to the lower House of Congress, 
and was serving his third term at the time of his untimely 
death. Mr. Witherspoon's election to Congress in 1910 
was due very largely to the peculiar political conditions 
which existed in the State of Mississippi at that time. It 
was the result of a campaign for civic righteousness and 
was an emphatic protest by the people of the State against 
conditions which had culminated in what appeared then, 
and we now know, to have been a complete denial by 
those in authority of the right of the people to rule the 
State for the benefit of the people. The man and the 
occasion met, and he took up the work to which he was 
called with the ease which always characterizes the 
ordering of destiny. 

His services in the House of Representatives were of 
short duration, but they were long enough to make a 
record that will live as long as heroism is a virtue; as 
long as independence of thought and intellectual honesty 
are regarded as attributes of real statesmanship in 
America; as long as fidelity to country, love of home, and 
adoration for God animate and glorify the human heart. 

The majesty of his character consisted in the work he 
did, and the greatest ornament of his reputation was the 



[96] 



Address of Mr. Vardaman, of Mississippi 

dignity which characterized the doing. Though of modest 
demeanor and of a disposition to avoid all show and osten- 
tatious display, his towering abilities attracted attention, 
and — 

As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form, 
Swells from the vale and midway leaves the storm, 
Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread, 
Eternal sunshine settles on its head — 

his name will live among the greatest and most useful 
men who have occupied seats in the lower House of Con- 
gress, and his fame will be cherished as a national asset. 

I believe the most useful lessons are the lessons learned 
from other lives — from conduct and character. And I 
am also convinced that the real greatness of this Nation 
consists, not in its unparalleled material riches, but, 
rather, in the moral qualities and intellectual acquire- 
ments of the men and women who compose its citizen- 
ship. Coming from a virile, rugged stock of clean-lived 
people, born and reared in the country, close to nature 
and to nature's God, with eyes trained to see things in 
their due proportions and ears attuned to hear the wise 
teachings of nature — by contact with men he became 
familiar with the wants, hopes, aspirations, and longings 
of the human heart, and his sympathy always went out to 
the silent toilers of the realm. His great heart was stirred 
to its profoundest depths by injuries wrought by unjust 
laws. He heard the howl of the Wolf of Want at the door 
of Poverty, and from a distance the strains of music from 
the halls of mirth of the rich fell in melancholy cadences 
upon his sympathetic ears. 

He was an omnivorous reader and broadly learned in 
the art of statesmanship, familiar with the forms of law, 
the history of peoples; he knew the causes that contrib- 
uted to the building of great cities, the influences that 
wrought the civilizations, and the agencies which created 

37673° — 17 7 [97] 



Memorial Addresses : Representative Witherspoon 

the empires of the past; and he was also familiar with 
the influences that caused and brought about their dis- 
integration and downfall and scattered the skeletons of 
bj'gone greatness upon the desolate shores of time. 

A more splendidly equipped, superbly proportioned, 
patriotic character I have never known. He was gifted 
with a vision which enabled him to " dip into the future 
as far as human eye could see," and he saw the " visions 
of the world and all the wonders that would be." He 
possessed to as large degree as I have ever known that 
power which enables one to " hear the ocean in one shell" 
and see the " whole world's winter in one leaf." He was 
gifted with a rare power of speech, which often compelled 
men against their will. His logic was irresistible, as fault- 
less and irrefragable as truth itself, and his devotion to 
the Constitution amounted to a religious zeal. When a 
question was presented to him he never sought for the 
popular or unpopular side — his only desire was to find the 
truth. If he determined that a certain course was the 
right course, he pursued it; his face was at once set in 
that direction, and no power beneath the stars, except 
the same cause that started him on his course, could 
make him change. 

He was a Democrat after the strictest sect and devoted 
to his State. But above and beyond all, as high as the sun 
hangs above the earth, he was an American. I think the 
most beautiful trait of Mr. Witherspoon's character was 
his devotion to the interests of the toiling masses. The 
great silent, suffering, slow-thinking, toiling multitude, 
whose labor produces the wealth of the world — maintains 
its commerce in time of peace and fights its battles in 
time of war — these were the dearest objects of his heart's 
deepest solicitude. 

He was brave and unyielding in his purpose. Like the 
"Hebrew children," who were threatened by the pagan 



[98] 



Address of Mr. Vardaman, of Mississippi 

king with death if thej' refused to bow to the golden god 
of infidelity, he answered the commands of predatorj' 
interests to bow to their behests by standing erect and 
declining to yield to any power or influence under the 
stars, save the truth. The fiery furnace of slander had 
no terrors for his heroic soul, and the detraction and vili- 
fication heaped upon him by the hired agents of the 
enemies of good government were brushed aside as in- 
consequential vaporings. The one god, the true god of 
duty, was the object of his adoration and the guiding 
star of his official course. He rather preferred to be right 
than popular. The approval of his own conscience and 
sense of justice were the object and end of his ambition. 

I am reminded in this connection of an heroic incident 
of ancient history, which illustrates the habit of thought 
of Mr. WiTHERSPOON. It is said that when the Romans 
met the Volscians, Marcius inquired of Cominius in what 
manner the enemy's armies were drawn up and where 
their best troops were posted. Being told that the Antiates 
were placed in the center and were the bravest and most 
warlike, then Marcius replied, " I pray thee, place me 
immediately in front of them." Mr. President, that was 
always the request of Samuel Andrew Witherspoon 
when fighting the battles of righteousness and defending 
the interests of the plain people of America, either in the 
Halls of Congress or on the field of politics. The furious- 
ness of the conflict, the hardship of the campaign, did not 
concern him. 

The more deadly the rain of shot and shell of misrep- 
resentation, the fiercer the slander and detraction, the 
more truculent the opposition, the gi-eater was his eager- 
ness to be in the vortex of the contest. To do battle for 
the right was the consuming passion of his life. Armed 
with the truth, with an eloquence capable of charming 
the " wildest tempers " and moving to patriotic action the 



[99] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Witherspoon 

most sordid soul, absolute masterj' of his subject, shielded 
with the armor of righteousness and clothed with the 
consciousness of the rectitude of his own conduct and 
the unselfishness of his lofty purposes, these missiles of 
malignancy and hate fell harmless at his feet. From 
every conflict he emerged stronger with the people, more 
deeply intrenched in their love, and more highly exalted 
in their estimation than ever before. 

I have seen him in the depths of pessimism, when the 
lowering cloud of doubt almost smothered his subdued 
soul, and then I have seen him come forth with an op- 
timism as radiant as sunlight. Defeat gave him strength, 
and the righteousness of his cause always stimulated hope 
for the future of the Republic. He was — 

One who never turned liis back, 

But marched breast forward; 

Never doubted clouds would break; 

Never dreamed though right were worsted wrong would triumph. 

Held, we fall to rise, baffled to fight better; 

Sleep to wake. 

Pertinacity of purpose was one of the striking charac- 
teristics of his career. Really, it .is the distinguishing 
difference between the truly great man and the near- 
great man. Most men are capable of distinguishing be- 
tween right and wrong — between the wise course and the 
unwise course — but very few men are willing to go the 
wise course if it happens to be unpopular or temporarily 
difficult of travel. Physical courage is a common at- 
tribute which belongs to the ordinary man as well as the 
lower animals, but moral courage is rare. And that is 
why all men admire it. Even the physically dauntless 
moral coward respects it. Mr. Witherspoon possessed 
that quality or attribute of character to a very lai'ge 



[100] 



Address of Mr. Vardaman, of Mississippi 

degree. He was in truth and in fact the sort of man de- 
scribed by Markham when he said: 

Made of unpurcliasablc stuff, 
He went ttie ways wlien ways were rough. 
He, wtien tlie traitors had deceived, 
Held the long purpose and believed. 
He, when the face of God grew dim. 
Held through the dark and trusted Him; 
Braver soul that fought the mortal way 
And felt that faith could not betray. 

But like most men who live above the fog in conduct 
and speech, wlio refused to grovel with mere timeservers, 
he was misunderstood. Some people spoke of Mr. 
WiTHERSPOON as a mere dreamer, an insubstantial ideal- 
ist. He pleaded guilty to the charge; he was grateful 
for the compliment; and, to show his appreciation, he 
continued to dream, and from his coign of vantage of 
an uncommon soul he looked through tlie dim vista of 
the future and read the story of destiny. He realized 
that the man with a vision is the only safe leader, and 
that the vision itself is the one unfailing guide. He ap- 
preciated the fact that the practical man will clear away 
the forests, cultivate the lands, hold the offices, make 
money, and grow rich in the sordid things of life, but 
the dreamer is the protagonist, the pioneer who must 
blaze the way through the trackless wilderness. He was 
able to see himself in the perspective — to understand 
when he was right and, therefore, if he himself were 
misunderstood by others, he was willing to wait for the 
latest, best judgment. 

He had a sustaining faith in the ultimate triumph of 
righteousness. He was intensely religious, but without 
bigotry. He knew by the witness of his own spirit that 
an " atheist laugh is a poor exchange for Deity offended,"' 



[101] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Witherspoon 

and when upon the rough sea of life, " tempest driven," 
v^'ith a " conscience but a canker," he realized that " a 
correspondence fixed with heaven is sure a noble anchor." 
He believed with all his heart that — 

Out of the twilight of the past 

We move to a diviner light. 
For notliing that is wrong can last; 

Nothing's immortal but the right. 

There was more pleasure derived from the conscious- 
ness of duty well done than in the insincere applause 
which often accompanies ephemeral success. He would — 

In spite of the stare of the wise and the world's derision, 
Dare travel the star-blazed road, dare follow the vision. 

He knew that it would — 

Break like a hush on the soul in wonders of youth, 
And the lyrical dream of the boy is the kingly truth. 
The world is a vapor, and only the vision is real; 
Yea, nothing will hold against hell but the winged ideal. 

Flattery could not change his course. Defeat could not 
daunt him. 

Tho' every leaf were a tongue to cry thou must, 
He would not say the unjust thing was just. 

Mr. President, I am a devout believer in the inspiration 
of the Scripture and the sovereign saving purpose of 
Christ's mission to earth. With all my heart I believe in 
the divinity of the Gallilean Carpenter. But I also believe 
in the divinity of eveiy good man and woman who has 
lived and walked among men as the highest expression 
of God's love for " fallen humanity." To paraphrase the 
language of another: 

We may all be saviours of the world if we believe in 
the divinity which dwells in us and worship it, and nail 
our grosser selves, our tempers, greeds, and unworthy 



[102] 



Address of Mr. Vardaman, oi Mississippi 

aims upon the Cross, who giveth love to all, pays kind- 
ness for unkindness, smiles for frowns, and lends new 
courage to each fainting heart. 

Never in the historj' of America was the need quite so 
great for men of Mr. Witherspoon's type as right now. 
The great issues which confront our people, and our man- 
ner of dealing with them, may be the crucial test of our 
capacity for self-government, our ability to preserve 
American institutions and continue tliis Government for 
the people. Every national election in tliis country is a 
crisis in the life of the Republic. I believe that this time 
marks a turning point in the history of the Nation. The 
wave of hysteria, savoring of blood lust, that is sweeping 
over the land seems to have destroyed the old landmarks 
and changed the viewpoint of men whose ability to guide 
the ship of state into the right channels has heretofore 
never been questioned. There is, I fear, a secret, silent, 
sinister influence affecting unconsciously the hearts and 
judgment of some of our bravest and best men. 

Mr. Witherspoon's great ability would have served a 
noble purpose just now as an impregnable dike against 
the mad current of popular frenzy which runs through 
the present as an uncontrolled flood. Just why he should 
have been taken at the time he was is one of the mys- 
terious dispensations of an All-Wise Providence. We can 
not understand. 

Oh, wliy has worth so short a date? 

\\Tiile villains ripen grey with time, 
Must thou, the noble, gen'rous, great, 

Fall in bold manhood's hardy prime? 

It is not ours to inquire why. But we know it is. In 
the hour of doubt, when question marks, like stars across 
the blue canopy of heaven, stand out before us, we can 
only wait. Our finite judgment tells us that his death 
was a national disaster; that his place can not be filled. 



[103] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Witherspoon 



He stood alone in the great work in which he was en- 
gaged. But in the darkness of doubt I am going to trust, 
I am going to draw inspiration from his life, which was 
to me a benediction. And it should be an inspiration, a 
beacon light to lead benighted men, blinded by selfish 
interests, into paths of rectitude and duty. 

Such a life as his not only serves to mark the way to 
better living — a soul tonic to stimulate to higher en- 
deavor — but it is also a rebuke to the timeserver, the 
sycophantic creature who would dishonor himself by 
" crooking the pregnant hinges of the knee that thrift 
might follow fawning." A truer, nobler, manlier man I 
have never had the honor and privilege of knowing. The 
world is better for his having lived in it. He contributed 
something to the stock of human goodness, and added to 
the sum total of human happiness — the highest accom- 
plishment of all human effort. Peace to his sacred ashes, 
and rest to his sublime soul. 



[104] 



Address of Mr. Smith, of South Carolina 

Mr. President: I am glad to have the opportunity to 
speak on this occasion, for the reason that I met Mr. 
WiTHERSPOON under circumstances peculiarly qualified to 
give me an opportunity to know something of his real 
character. It was during the stormy days of 1904, 1905, 
1906, 1907, when the cotton producers of the South re- 
volted against the commercial system that had impover- 
ished them, and was in a fair way to still further impov- 
erish them and to perpetuate the disastrous conditions. 

The Southern Cotton Association was organized for the 
purpose of stemming this tide of disaster. To organize 
for the purpose of protecting the weak and helpless pro- 
ducers against the greed and avarice of the unrestrained 
financial pirates, the call of the association was to every 
southern man who was willing to contribute what he 
might to the betterment of this intolerable condition. No 
vocation or avocation, profession or calling, was barred 
from membership in this organization. A great major- 
ity, of course, who joined were farmers. They were the 
actual, or, more properly speaking, the principal, suf- 
ferers. Quite a number of merchants joined, not so large 
a number of bankers, and a few lawyers. There was 
not so gi-eat incentive for the merchants to join as the 
farmers, though the merchants were indirectly dependent 
upon the products of the farmers' crops, the bankers to a 
degree dependent, and the lawyers to a very much lesser 
degree, if really dependent at all. Thus the lawyers who 
came to our relief, who rendered the service of their 
time and brain and money, did it, perhaps, with a more 
unselfish and patriotic purpose than any other members 
of the organization. Among these was Mr. Witherspoon. 

[105] 



Memori.\l Addresses : Representative Witherspoon 

As an official of the national organization, I came into 
close contact with him more or less during a period of 
three or four jears. 

Mr. Witherspoon was unquestionably a Democrat in 
tlie real meaning of that term. He was so constituted that 
I do not helieve he could have enjoyed wealth and leisure 
and luxuiy while the masses of his fellow men were suf- 
fering the privations of poverty and its attendant burdens. 
He realized that the proper adjustment of our laws, both 
financial and commercial, would be to give to everyone, 
under the law, an equal opportunity. He knew, as all of 
us know, that men are not equally endowed with power 
to seize and improve opportunitj; but he knew that the 
function of law in a democratic government should fur- 
nish like opportunity to all and place the burden of failure 
upon him who was either incapable of seizing and improv- 
ing the opportunity or who squandered or neglected it. 

We are often unfair and unjust in our criticisms of a 
fellow man because we have not taken the pains to know 
his viewpoint, to study the problems that have been thrust 
upon him, and to realize with him the things necessary 
to their solution. Mr. Witherspoon realized the burdens 
and limitations placed upon the impoverished farmers 
of the South. He realized the acuteness of their suffer- 
ing — a proud people, the purest Anglo-Saxon blood in 
America, the highest ideals, the last expression in virtue, 
chivaliy, and bravery; victims of a conflict that had 
stripped them of the opportunitj' of realizing the circum- 
stances they were so splendidly qualified to enjoy. 

He was impatient and intolerant of any compromise 
of the rights of the masses of the people. He believed, 
and fearlessly spoke the belief, that those who produced 
the wealth of the country were entitled to have such 
legislation as to guarantee them the enjoyment of a legiti- 
mate per cent of the wealth they produced. Both as a 



[106] 



Address of Mr. Smith, of South Carolina 

member of the great southern organization and of the 
Federal Congress, he never abated one jot or tittle his 
zeal for his people, and in his death the South has lost a 
valiant officer in her army of patriots. 

In everj' great reform, in everj' human conflict, oppor- 
tunity is given to test and to know the real value of the 
individual. The tragic experience of the South from 1860 
until now has given peculiar opportunity to know the 
real value of the American's character. Mr. Wither- 
SPOON met the test and proved his worth. 

When a man dies there seems to be but an eddy in the 
current, a moment's pause, and then the steady stream 
of human events flows on seemingly undisturbed and un- 
affected. But the influence of that life, its contributions 
to the solution of human problems, are borne upon the 
tide of events and are forever factors in the progress and 
uplift of the race. 

I am glad of this opportunity to bear this testimony to 
the memory of Samuel A. Witherspoon, to pay this 
tribute to his worth and character. In the value of his 
character alone and the work he did, he has left a heritage 
to his family and loved ones that can never be measured 
in terms of silver and gold. 



[107] 



Address of Mr. Thomas, of Colorado 

Mr. President: My acquaintance with Judge Wither- 
SPOON was somewhat brief. It had its beginning in the 
year 1913. We came into occasional contact only, but as 
time progressed our acquaintance I'ipened into friend- 
ship, and I am sure that if he liad been spared, we would 
have become intimate associates. His capacity, his con- 
victions, and his views of public life were so completely 
in accord with my own that I was naturally attracted to 
him from the outset. 

It so happened that in the month of Februarj, 1913, I 
went to the other end of the Capitol upon an unimportant 
business errand. Upon entering the Chamber of the 
House of Representatives 1 noticed a group of interested 
and enthusiastic Members surrounding a gentleman who 
was engaged in the discussion of the naval bill of that 
winter. I joined the group and soon became enthralled 
with the absolute familiarity exhibited by the speaker, 
who was Judge Witherspoon, with evei-y fact and every 
detail, not only of the American Navy, but of all the 
navies of the world. With a facility tliat bordered upon 
the marvelous, he discussed the number and caliber of 
guns, the complements of officers and of men, the vessels 
of our own and of other navies, making comparisons be- 
tween and drawing contrasts concerning them with the 
ease and perfection of a master. I have heard many dis- 
cussions, Mr. President, but never have I heard one pro- 
ceeding from a man so thoroughly familiar with the sub- 
ject to which his address related. Upon the close of that 
argument I requested an introduction, and that was the 
occasion of my meeting Judge Witherspoon. 

It was said by the Senator from Mississippi [Mr. Varda- 
man] a moment ago that the death of this most useful 
and well-informed public official at this time was a great 
misfortune. When I learned of his death that was the 
first thought which obtruded itself upon my mind, and I 

[108] 



Address of Mr. Thomas, of Color.\do 

could not but contemplate the fact that in so many in- 
stances men are removed from their spheres of action 
in the very midst of usefulness and of need. I wonder, 
and have often wondered, why this should be so. It may 
be that, in the providence of God, the subsequent develop- 
ments of time might operate to impair, if not to destroy, 
the splendid prestige wliich had reached or was approach- 
ing its meridian, and that, for reasons which will be in 
the. great future disclosed to us, it were better that it 
should be so. But our poor human judgment protests 
against such conditions and fain would change them if 
it could. 

Mr. President, the rarest manifestation of genius in this 
country is that which concerns itself with details, with 
the various facts and circumstances wliich underlie great 
propositions and great movements. It is, to my mind, 
the most useful because it is the most practical of all 
forms of genius; and it is genius, Mr. President, not only 
because of its rarit>% but because of that peculiar mental 
structure the possession of which is essential to its exer- 
cise and development. 

I venture to say that in the Congress of the United 
States to-day there are not 50 men capable of applying 
themselves to and mastering the homely, commonplace 
details of those great subjects and propositions with which 
we are called upon to deal, and thus become competent 
for the appropriate discharge of the duties devolved upon 
them. We differ in this respect from the Germans and 
the Japanese, where the prosaic, everyday, matter-of-fact 
affairs of life seem to appeal to the average intellect, in 
consequence of which the marvelous material progress 
of those two peoples has so long been manifest. When 
this country finds itself in possession of a public servant 
who has the will and the power, the industry' and the 
inclination, to acquaint himself slowly, painfully, but 
thoroughly with everj- fact and every element affecting 

[109] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Witherspoon 

the subject matter to which for the time being he has 
devoted himself, his loss is a great public calamity. 

I know of no man — although the occasion always pro- 
duces tlie man — who is capable of filling the void made 
by the death of Judge Witherspoon. We are living, Mr. 
President, in parlous times. With the exception of the 
United States of America, every great nation in the world 
is engaged in a conflict which has no parallel in the his- 
tory of civilization. We can no more escape the conta- 
gion of its influences than we can avoid the law of gravi- 
tation. Those influences manifest themselves in manj' 
ways, not the least of which is in the development of that 
hysteria which sees an armed enemy upon every coast- 
line, and entertains visions of wars and rumors of wars 
which distract the judgment and unsettle the reason. At 
such times we are prone to magnify our dangers, and to 
rush into various schemes of protective legislation, some 
of which may be essential, but all of which may be con- 
demned by the reflections of our more sober judgment. 
Hence, it was a sad day when, under circumstances like 
these, the Nation was deprived of the services of this 
great and most useful statesman, whose accumulated wis- 
dom gave influence to his counsel and strength to his 
suggestions. 

Judge Witherspoon's conceptions of duty were those 
prescribed by Edmund Burke, who said that everj' sense 
of public duty must be based upon a consciousness of 
public responsibility. He knew the responsibilities of 
his position; he observed those responsibilities, and was, 
therefore, animated by a sense of duty which, stimulated 
by the spirit of unquenchable industrj^ made him at all 
times an authority upon those subjects which fell to him 
and belonged to his peculiar province of legislation. 

This man honored his people as their representative. 
They can not pay him too much honor by mourning at 

his bier. 

[110] 



Address of Mr. Broussard, of Louisiana 

Mr. President: It is unfortunately but too often that 
this life at the Capital of the Nation, so full of moving 
events, finds itself impelled to halt from its busy activities 
to pay tribute to a departed colleague and friend. This 
is one of these occasions. Perhaps it is meet that this 
halt should take place, that the mind of the Members 
should turn from the public business and the grind of 
details, incident to the life of a legislator, to commune 
within itself and to take its bearings upon the circum- 
stances of the coming and the going of those forming this 
important branch of our democratic Government. 

We are too busy from day to day to mark attention to 
anything beyond the excitement of contending sides, in 
their several efforts to enact or defeat proposed legisla- 
tion. But these halts, unfortunate as are the causes 
which command them, deeply as we grieve over their 
causes, much as we inourn those who depart from our 
very midst to the eternal bourn, yet when they occur, 
furnish a wholesome lesson. They bring forcibly to our 
mind the destiny of all living things which our activities 
in this Capitol would otherwise cause us to entirely for- 
get. They remind us of the uncertainty of life, of the 
necessity for that preparedness which is as essential to 
the soul, that it may live eternally, as nourishment is to 
the body, that it may escape early dissolution. 

"We have suspended the transaction of important busi- 
ness of the highest order to pay tribute to the memory of 
Samuel Andrew Witherspoon, of the State of Mississippi, 
whose death occurred during the pending session. 

Samuel Andrew Witherspoon was born at Columbus, 
Miss., on the 4th day of May, 1855. The death of his 

[111] 



Memorial Addresses: Representativ'e Witherspoon 

father, when he was but a youth, left him to the tender 
care of a loving mother, who, besides him, had other 
children whose welfare she must look after. She must 
have been a self-sacrificing as well as a loving mother, 
for in 1872, when Samuel A. Witherspoon had matured 
into young manhood, she realized the necessity of prepar- 
ing him, so far as she could, for the exigencies of life. A 
proper education clearly was the first thing she thought 
of, and as an institution for higher learning was not in 
existence at her home, she that year moved to Oxford, 
Miss., so as to permit her son to enter the State university. 
Samuel Witherspoon graduated from that university, tak- 
ing the degree of B. A., and subsequently, further pursuing 
his studies, took the degrees of M. A. and LL. D. 

His education completed, and armed with authority to 
practice law, which his last diploma granted him, he cast 
about to find a location where there was prospect of ad- 
vancement in his chosen profession. His eyes, scanning 
the many available places in Mississippi, selected Meridian 
as the proper field, and in 1879 he moved to that splendid 
little city. It did not require a long residence at Meridian 
for this ambitious young man, so well equipped under 
the loving guidance of a devoted mother, to build him- 
self a position both socially and professionally. He was 
a good lawyer, lucid, logical, and forcible. I shall not 
speak much of this, because I did not have the pleasure 
of his personal acquaintance during the years to which 
I refer, and know of him during this period of his life 
only through hearsay. From my acquaintance with him, 
however, during the time when together we served in the 
House of Representatives, 1 can easily conceive of his 
power as an advocate in any branch of the law to which 
he directed himself. For he was possessed to a marked 
degree not only with the qualities which I have just de- 
scribed, but he was one of the few really eloquent men 
that it has been my pleasure to listen to. 

[112] 



Address of Mr. Broussard, of Louisiana 

I first became acquainted with Samuel A. Witherspoon 
in 1910, shortly after his election, and on the day on 
which he was sworn in as a Member of the House, to which 
body 1 then l)elonged. I served with him for two full 
terms and continued my acquaintance with him after 
having become a Member of the Senate. 1 soon learned 
to like liim and then to admire him. I liked him because 
he was a scholarly man, kind, considerate, and as of lov- 
able a character as that of any man. He was honorable 
to the utmost and in the extreme faithful and loyal to 
principle. But he did his own thinking, accepted orders 
from no one, was always willing to discuss the belief 
which he had in him, and was open to conviction, if facts 
could be produced to overcome any erroneous conclu- 
sions which he might have reached. But he was tenacious 
of his conclusions, and it required facts and logic to 
compel his attention and change his conclusion. 

He was a Democrat in the broadest sense of the term, 
and when 1 use that expression I do not mean to say that 
he was a man who was a Democrat exclusively because 
of his regularity to a party's action, but a Democrat who 
could give a reason for his Democracy, and doing so he 
was not easily moved to take a position purely upon asser- 
tions. It required that the matter at issue measured up 
to a principle of democratic ideal. 

His intellectual honesty was not less developed than his 
personal honestj. I can best illustrate that which 1 wish 
to convey with regard to that splendid trait of the char- 
acter of Samuel A. Witherspoon by calling attention to 
the fact that as a member of the Naval Affairs Committee, 
believing, as he did, that a democracy does not rest upon 
the power of might but upon the principle of right, he 
was immovable from his purpose to hold down govern- 
mental expenditures to the smallest amount commen- 
surate with his conception of the safety of the countr>\ 
True, 1 did not agree with him upon that question, since 

37673° — 17 8 [113] 



Memorial Addresses: Representatu-e Witherspoon 

in applying this principle he invariably voted for insuffi- 
cient sums to meet the governmental needs, but I none the 
less admired the intellectual honesty of the man who 
could neither be cajoled nor threatened to abandon those 
convictions which to him, student of our form of govern- 
ment, as he was, appeared to rest upon unassailable con- 
clusions. 

I said that his intellectual honesty was as marked as 
was his personal honesty, and I can illustrate the thought 
which I had in mind with regard to the latter quality of 
Samuel A. Witherspoon by calling attention to the fact 
that on entering upon the performance of his duties as a 
Representative, his first thought was to acquaint himself 
with the legal obligations, the legal powers, and the legal 
restrictions placed bj' the law upon the position he as- 
sumed. Investigation revealed to him the fact that there 
was a law on the statute books requiring that the absence 
of a Member of Congress from attendance upon the House 
on days of session without a legal reason deprived the 
Member of pay for that daj^'s absence. This law has long 
been on the statute books, but is seldom applied. I even 
doubt, but for the fact that occasional resolutions are 
adopted in moments of emergency when public business 
is likely to suffer because of large numbei's of absentees 
and a resolution is adopted directing the enforcement 
of this law, that Members of Congress generally are 
acquainted with this statute. 

The fact that a resolution has to be adopted at times 
would indicate how dead that law would seem to be. I 
recall that at one time a great many Members were ab^ 
sent from the House attending to political campaigns 
in their various localities. It was hard to keep a quorum 
and the public business was threatened with suspension. 
Senator Underwood, of Alabama, was at the time the 
Democratic leader on the floor of the House, and, in 



[114] 



Address of Mr. Broussard, of Louisiana 



order to insure the attendance of a quorum that the 
public business might be transacted, a resolution was 
introduced by him and adopted by the House requiring 
the Sergeant at Arms to withhold pay of absentees for 
days of absence while the House was in session. With 
the enforcement of this resolution, inquiry' was made 
about the matter, and for the first time the membership 
of that House learned that Samuel A. Witherspoon had 
religiously docked himself for everj' day's absence, when 
not on official business, from his verj' admission as a 
Member of the House of Representatives. 

This incident describes the man's character better than 
anything that can be said. He followed the law, obeyed 
it in every respect, and never questioned others about 
him who looked upon it as a dead law. His personal in- 
tegrity compelled him to obey the law regardless of the 
course of his neighbors concerning the same law. 

It is a great pity that traits of character such as Samuel 
A. Witherspoon possessed are not more universally 
prevalent. But there remains of such virtues the example 
which such conduct always compels for the guidance of 
surviving humanity, so that even after death these virtues 
serve their useful purpose. They enlighten and en- 
courage those who remain behind to emulate them. 



[115] 



Address of Mr. Poindexter, of Washington 

Mr. President: Perhaps it is sufficient praise of the late 
Representative Witherspoon to say that he was worthy 
of the traditions of Mississippi. In the formative period 
of our growth, when government under the Constitution 
was in its experimental stage, Mississippi, although one 
of the newer States, wielded a powerful influence in the 
councils of the Nation. In her earlier days, in the first 
flush of the prosperity which the opening of her fertile 
lands produced, there were congregated in her borders 
bold and aggressive leaders. They adapted themselves 
to the spirit of the times and the conditions of a new 
State. Physical courage, enterprise, and energy were in 
the ascendant. Among her leaders, however, were men 
of brilliant intellect who have left their names in the 
annals of the law and of the Government. It would be 
invidious to name any them without naming them all, 
and I will not undertake it upon this occasion. The State 
became a leader in all the issues of those times. 

In the heroic days of the Civil War, when she consti- 
tuted one of the brilliant galaxy of States which sought 
to establish an independent government of their own, she 
was alike distinguished. From the poverty and ruin of 
that war Mississippi gradually arose, weakened it is true, 
but with her spirit unimpaired. Patiently and coura- 
geously she reestablished her institutions. Her courts 
have been distinguished for their learning and ability. 
Her schools, colleges, and churches have preserved the 
best educational and spiritual standards of the land. 

It was inevitable that the man who achieved great and 
permanent distinction in such a State and among such a 
people should possess exceptional merit. It was a great 

[116] 



Address of Mr. Poindexter, of Washington 

compliment to Mr. Witherspoon that, though the people 
who had chosen him from among all their sons to repre- 
sent them in the councils of the National Parliament may 
have differed with him at times upon specific questions, 
yet such was their confidence in the purity of his char- 
acter and in the general soundness of his judgment that 
at the time of his death there was no indication that he 
might not have remained in honorable public life for an 
indefinite period. 

I had no special opportunity or reason to form the 
acquaintance of Representative Witherspoon, but his 
activities attracted attention, and I knew him well. The 
demands and exactions of congressional duties are such 
that many of us here in different Chambers of this Con- 
gress collaborate for years together upon the legislation 
of the countn,' without becoming personally acquainted, 
and with little or no opportunity for individual, personal, 
and social intercourse. 

Very shortly, however, after Representative Wither- 
spoon's appearance in the House of Representatives his 
exceptional qualities of mind and character had so im- 
pressed themselves upon his associates that he became a 
man of marked distinction, even among the many distin- 
guished men who sat with him in that Chamber. He verj' 
soon became a leader in the particular fields which he had 
chosen. In some positions which he took upon the diffi- 
cult problems of the day I reached a conclusion entirely 
at variance with his, and yet such was his evident single- 
ness of purpose, his love of justice, his tremendous thor- 
oughness in what he imdertook, that I formed a friend- 
ship and admiration for him. 

I can not undertake with the limited opportunities I 
have had to give a complete analysis of his character, 
but I had many personal interviews with him, and deem it 
an honor and privilege on this occasion to pay a tribute to 



[117] 



Memorial Addresses: Representati\'e Witherspoon 

a man who I verily believe never had a thought in his 
public service but the public good; who loved justice 
and hated unfairness and oppression; who did his work 
thorouglily and well. 

In the warfare of modern congressional life Wither- 
spoon was a knight without fear and without reproach. 
He served his country well and left a stainless name. 



[118] 



Address of Mr. Robinson, of Arkansas 

Mr. President: During the last 15 years the Congress 
has numbered among its membership no one more coura- 
geous in his official conduct or more decisive and inde- 
pendent in his views than the Hon. Samuel A. Wither- 
SPOON, late a Representative from Mississippi. 

There is a tendency to develop a spirit of indecision 
concerning public questions among Members which some- 
times approaches insincerity, and which too often is de- 
structive of that firmness which should characterize our 
convictions. 

It is, of course, proper and desirable that legislators 
should be informed as to the views of their constituents. 
It is also true that due consideration should be given to 
public sentiment concerning all questions with which we 
are called upon to deal. It is right that elective officers 
should take counsel of those who choose them. We may 
differ as to whether and when a Representative should 
waive his own convictions or conform them to the senti- 
ment of the people whom he represents. No one can 
doubt that all important legislative reforms either origi- 
nate with the people or find momentum among them. 
One of the greatest impediments to the proper discharge 
of legislative duties is found in the abuse of this prin- 
ciple. The practice now frequently pursued by unscru- 
pulous or selfish interests of manufacturing or misrep- 
resenting public sentiment to coerce or influence the 
conduct of officers is subversive of the true representative 
spirit, but it is, nevertheless, quite potent and often suc- 
cessful. Taking advantage of the power of public senti- 
ment, unfair agitation is often conducted, and by means 
of inaccurate and one-sided information widely distrib- 

[119] 



Memorial Addresses : Representative Witherspoon 

uted the real public sentiment on an issue may be clouded 
and obscured, to the detriment of interests wliich in jus- 
tice should be promoted and conserved. We all know 
how often stereotyped letters are devised for the purpose 
of having them signed by our constituents, who thus ap- 
pear to assert an opinion which, in fact, they may not 
hold, but which, to oblige another, they may thus express. 
Prompted or inspired communications of this nature have 
little value in assisting the legislator to arrive at a correct 
conclusion. On the contrary, they are misleading and 
confusing. Sometimes a Congressman who has an- 
nounced his position on a public question is besieged to 
change or modify it by appeals or threats from his con- 
stituents, who are induced to address him from no con- 
sideration of the public interest, but through the activities 
of designing persons and organizations, whose ends and 
aims may deserve severest censure. 

An executive officer is not charged with discretion in 
the enforcement of the law. His task is comparatively 
simple. The same is true in a different sense of a judicial 
officer. He sometimes finds great difficulty in determining 
what is meant by the law in a given case, but whatever 
he finds it to be he must declare it. The legislator, how- 
ever, is concerned primarily with questions of policy and 
may rightly take into consideration the uncorrupted senti- 
ment of the public concerning any measure presented. 
Few Congressmen are indifferent to public sentiment 
when fairly formed and expressed, and all are anxious 
to maintain the respect and confidence of the people 
whom they serve. 

The late Samuel A. Witherspoon, a Representative in 
Congress from the State of Mississippi, was in many re- 
spects an unusual and interesting man. The dominant 
trait in his character was independence of thought and 
loyalty to his convictions of public duty. He exercised 

[120] 



Address of Mr. Robinson, of Arkansas 

his best conscience and judgment in determining the 
merits or demerits of a measure, and when he reached a 
conclusion promptly and frankly announced his attitude. 
No influence could shake him. Of all the men whom I 
have known in public and in private life, he was the most 
decisive in his views on public issues. Mr. Witherspoon 
rarely hesitated and never vacillated. He was cautious 
and deliberate in the study of a problem, but when he 
reached a solution he never doubted its correctness, and 
maintained it without apology. 

Many Congressmen experience great anxiety and worry 
over their attitude on public questions, even when they 
have done their best to promote the right. Mr. Wither- 
spoon never feared to meet any issue presented, and once 
having taken his stand, felt no fear of disapproval by 
others and yielded to no influence, however great, which 
sought to move him. He advanced aggressively to every 
legislative combat, strengthened and sustained by the con- 
viction that his cause was just. 

This attribute of true greatness, the ability to know his 
own mind, and to be true to it, was his most distinguished 
characteristic. Enjoying the advantages of a comprehen- 
sive education, trained in forensic contests by 30 years' 
experience at the bar, his services in the House of Rep- 
resentatives were of recognized and permanent value. 
Mr. Witherspoon engaged in many sharp contests and in 
some bitter controversies. He emerged from them all 
with the unqualified respect of his adversaries. However 
his associates in Congress may have differed from him on 
public questions, not one doubted his sincerity or ques- 
tioned his ability. It is inspiring to contemplate the 
career of a man devoted always to his duty, fearless 
always of opposition. It is not a mere eulogj' to ascribe 
to him unyielding loyaltj- to his conscientious convictions. 
We need not invoke the license which custom gi-ants when 



[121] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Witherspoon 

men pay tribute to their departed friends. Mr. Wither- 
spoon earned this tribute. He enjoyed this reputation 
while living. His acquaintances universally ascribe to his 
memory the honor and the devotion which courage and 
determination alone command. In the annoyances and 
uncertainties of political life which at times must be ex- 
perienced, the will to do right in defiance of the powers 
that sometimes make us hesitate may be an unfailing 
source of strength and happiness. 



[122] 



Address of Mr. Williams, of Mississippi 

Mr. President: The grave is a great equalizer and 
silencer, not only of social and other differences of sta- 
tion, but of all human passions and human feelings. In 
its presence everything else sinks into insignificance. 
Men are no longer Democrats, or Republicans, or Pres- 
byterians, or Catholics, or Frenchmen, or Germans, or 
Christian, or Jew; they are simpl}^ men, and men who 
have passed away. Bj-^ its open portal all old acts of 
friendship are revived and remembered and emphasized; 
all old enmities are annihilated in the minds and hearts 
of all gentlemen. 

Upon this occasion I recall my first race for Congress 
in the State of Mississippi in 1892, now a generation ago, 
and I recall that among the useful and efficient friends 
who then advocated my cause, who then strove to ad- 
vance it, and imposed upon me a debt of gratitude, gladly 
recognized, was Samuel Andrew Witherspoon, of Lauder- 
dale County, Miss. Both of us at that time were young 
men ; he was born on May 4, 1855, and I less than a year 
previously. 

I recall with particular appreciation a speech made by 
him at a banquet given in the city of Meridian, in which 
he paid me undeserved but much appreciated compli- 
ment. In all my association with him, though we had 
differences of opinion later, I never forgot that occasion 
or the kind and entirely too partial words which there 
flowed from his lips. 

There is a philosophy of life which takes in " a contem- 
plation of death." I am, in my humble way, a disciple of 
that philosophy. Its central point is to remember pleas- 
ant traits about others and pleasant points of contact 
between one's self and other people. 

[123] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Witherspoon 



Mr. "Witherspoon was a man far above the average in 
learning, breeding, and intellectual attainments and in 
liberal culture. He graduated from the University of 
Mississippi in 1876. The faculty showed its recognition 
of his scholarship by making him a tutor in Latin there 
for three years afterwards. Having earned the degree of 
A. B., the degrees of A. M. and LL. D. were subsequently 
conferred upon him by that institution, which has given 
to Mississippi and to the United States so many men of 
whom Mississippi is proud. 

There is something better in the world, however, than 
educational equipment and mental culture, and that is 
personal and intellectual integrity. Mr. Witherspoon 
possessed it. However much one might differ with him 
about questions of public policy, nobody, 1 think, ever 
doubted his sincerity or his personal honesty and courage 
of conviction. He was a good husband, a good brother, 
and a good father. Much more than that can not remain 
to be said of any man. 

I have always regretted very much that I was not able 
to attend liis funeral, in the city of Meridian, when he 
died. I live out in the countrj% and the news came too 
late for me to make the railway station in time to be 
there. 1 especially regretted it because he had dis- 
approved of some of my public conduct and opinion, and 
I wanted his wife and his children and his kinspeople 
and him, himself, in the other world, to know that, so far 
as I was concerned, all differences were buried in his 
grave, and that so far as 1 was concerned no real enmity 
had ever existed in my heart. 

Mississippi has adorned the pages of American history 
with some men of great intellectual force and eloquence. 
She has seldom disgraced those pages by sending to either 
House of the Congress of the United States or to the 
Cabinet or to the field of battle any man who was not 

[124] 



Address of Mr. Williams, of Mississippi 



honest and brave and true and loyal to the best traditions 
and to the loftiest ideals of the American Republic. I 
do not think that those who stood against the opinions 
advocated by Mr. Witherspoon would or could say that 
he had ever been otherwise than honest, personally and 
intellectually, and true to his conception of what consti- 
tuted the best traditions and ideals of his country. 

The name is an old one. It was borne by one who 
signed the Declaration of Independence and by one who 
was a Member of the Continental Congress. The name 
was not dishonored by Samuel A. Witherspoon during 
his lifetime but was worn in honor. 

Mr. President, as a further mark of respect to the 
memory of the deceased, I move that the Senate do now 
adjourn. 

The motion was unanimously agreed to; and (at 3 
o'clock and 38 minutes p. m.) the Senate adjourned until 
Monday, March 27, 1916, at 12 o'clock m. 



^ 



[125] 



I 



LBJl'17 



